Devil May Cry 3:Luke's awakening
by GameCguru
Summary: "Have you heard of it, the legend of Lorelei? I never believed it I thought it was just a child's fairy tale. But I discovered that this so called legend wasn't a myth at all. How do I know? Well, I met the sons of Lorelei, both of them. But in the end only one was left standing."
1. prologue

**Author's notes: **

**I've had this idea floating around my head for awhile now. What if the story of Devil may Cry 3 was told with tales of the Abyss characters and thus I starting writing this. **

**A couple things, number one, some things will still be the same in the story, so for example Luke is still half-demon half-human, same with Asch. Second I tried to make the dialogue a little different from Devil may cry 3 so that way the scenes felt a little more original rather than me going through DMC 3's script and replacing "Dante said" with "Luke said". **

**Other than that sit back and enjoy and if you can think of any ways I can improve please leave a review.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Devil may cry or Tales of the Abyss ( though I wish I did).**

Prologue

"_Have you heard of the legend of Lorelei? When I was young my brother would tell me stories about it."_

Two figures clashed on the top of a tower that seemed to stretch into the heavens. While the heavy rain poured around them.

"_Long ago in ancient times, a demon rebelled against his own kind for the sake of the human race."_

The two figures continued to clash, One figure wore what looked like a red and black vest within an intricate design across the back that was opened along his chest revealing the man's well-toned physique, The man also wore white jeans with one pant leg pulled up to his knee. The sword he wielded shined with a red hue as such that the blade was akin to a flame.

"_With his sword he shut the portal to the demonic realm and sealed the evil entities off from our human world. But since he was a demon himself his power was also sealed on the other side."_

The other figure wore a red and black guard with black armor underneath which gave the figure a very knightly image. In his hand was a blade which shined with the blue hue of ice giving the impression that one would be frozen in place with a single touch.

"_I never believed, it I thought it was just a child's fairy tale. But I discovered that this so-called legend wasn't a myth at all. How do I know?"_

The two figures clashed once, more the figures' faces being revealed through the brief flash of lighting to reveal two sets of emerald eyes staring back at one another. It was clear that the two figures were brothers, not only brothers but twins.

"_Well, I met the sons of lorelei, both of them."_

The younger of the two had flowing red hair that descended into shades of orange that was not dissimilar from a sunrise. While the older of the two also had red hair but instead of orange his descended into a dark maroon color giving the impression of a sunset.

"_While the same blood of their father flowed through their veins the two battled fiercely like arch-enemies."_

The two brothers clashed once more locking swords as they both attempted to stare the other down, a purple hue beginning to appear from where their swords met.

"_It seems they derived some sort of twisted pleasure from this brotherly fighting"_

Suddenly the older sibling wretched his younger sibling's sword from his grasp, With his brother defenseless the eldest drove his sword through the stomach of his sibling while the last moments of the battle were reflected in the spinning blade of younger's sword. With a violent twist the older sibling tore his sword from his younger brother's body as his brother fell back onto the stone floor.

"_But in the end, only one was left standing."_

Turning as if to leave the older sibling began to walk away while his younger brother attempted to get up, the older brother suddenly whirled around as if to stab at the the younger, his sword raised to deliver a fatal stab when-

*ring*

**Well how was it, good? Bad? **

**I actually had a lot of fun writing this chapter.**

**Sorry if the prologue seems a little too similar to the game's actual opening, but unfortunately the prologue is one of those parts where I really can't get away with changing the dialogue too much.**

**Anyway I'll see you guys the next time I put up a chapter.**

**See ya. **


	2. Invitation

**Author notes:**

**Couple things before we get started this time.**

**First major thanks to Sonicgirl2002 for the very kind review which actually motivated me to get this chapter out faster. Thank you for that.**

**Second if anyone is having trouble visualizing what Luke is wearing from what I wrote just imagine him in his Wild-saber costume in long-hair.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of the Abyss or Devil May Cry.**

Invitation

*ring* *ring*

The sound of a telephone rang through the halls of a two story house. As the ringing of the phone continued the lone figure of the house slowly stepped downstairs washing his hair after a long shower in white jeans.

The man was incredibly attractive sporting a toned physique from years of hard-training. He had bright red-hair that trailed down into shades of orange that was not unlike a flame. However his most striking feature was his eyes, which shined with a brilliant emerald hue. He had a certain air of warmth and friendliness to him that made you want to just be around him. Around his neck was a brilliant Jewel shined with a brilliant scarlet hue.

This was Luke Fon Fabre, one of the son's of Lorelei.

Reaching the phone Luke proceeded to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Yes this is the right number you dialed but unfortunately we're not open yet."

"it's no problem, have a good day."

Hanging up the phone Luke proceeded to sit down at his desk in the center of the room, which had various mementos and "trophies" hanging all around the room. On the coat-rack next the door hung a red coat with white sleeves that had an extremely intricate design along the back. Along the desk lay open boxes of pizza and two pistols one white, one black. Engraved along the white pistol was the name "Ivory". Along the black pistol was engraved the name "Ebony". Behind Luke's desk was a sword that seemed to shine with red hue as brilliant as a flame, Flamberge.

"I haven't even figured out a name for this place and I'm already getting calls. Well good to know business will be booming when I finally do."

Luke leaned over his desk reaching for one of the many open pizza boxes, grabbing a slice he sat back when he heard the bell above the door ring.

Walking in was a man of impressive size sporting a small brown goatee and brown hair that framed his face.

Luke was confused by the man. Who just walks into a random building? Luke hadn't thought up a name for his business yet so there was no sign on the building indicating there was a business here.

"Are you Luke Fon Fabre?" the man asked adopting a polite posture and expression.

"And if I am?" Luke answered warily.

"If you are than I have come bearing an "invitation" of sorts." Luke noticed the bizarre emphasis on invitation.

"Sorry, but I'm not a big fan of parties they're too stuffy for my tastes." Luke answered jokingly trying to stave off the uncomfortable feeling he was getting from the man.

The man seemed almost amused by the reply. "Well this party is a bit special as it's a "family reunion" of sorts."

Luke was confused by that for minute but then he realized with a start what the man meant. Images of a man with his face appearing in his mind.

With startling speed Luke grabbed Ivory off the desk and jumped over the desk and was suddenly next to the man pointing Ivory at the side of his head.

"How do you know about Asch?" Luke demanded.

"You will know the answer soon enough." The man answered cryptically.

"What?" Luke answered confused.

That moment's confusion was all the man needed as he sweeped Luke's legs out from under him and using his rotation to his advantage grabbed Luke by the throat and threw him across the room towards the wall behind Luke's desk.

Showing impressive agility, Luke reoriented himself in midair and landed on his desk Ivory pointed at the man. But the man was already at the base of Luke's desk. Showcasing impressive strength the man grabbed the edge of the desk and flipped it causing luke to have to backflip through the air to avoid getting slammed against the wall.

Grabbing Ebony as he flipped through the air Luke landed on the now overturned desk both Ebony and Ivory poised to shoot at the man again but when Luke looked up the man was gone.

The adrenaline leaving his body Luke hopped off the desk.

"Who was that guy? He moved way too fast if he was just a regular human." Being half-demon and half-human Luke knew the limitations of both races.

Luke than began to ponder the man's "invitation".

"So Asch is coming back." He reconfirmed to himself feeling nervous but oddly excited.

Grabbing his Coat of the rack and moving to grab Flamberge from behind his desk Luke took one last look at the room before staring ahead with resolve in his emerald eyes.

"Okay Asch, let's finish what we started all those years ago." He said with determination in his voice as he began to walk through the door.

**Well that's it for ch.1 invitation this was another fun chapter to write.**

**Leave a review if you think there's something I can improve on and I will see you guys next time. **

**see ya. **

**Next Time: the beginning of everything **


	3. the beginning of everything

**Author Notes: **

**Hey guys I'm back with a new chapter.**

**This chapter was also pretty fun to write. The same things I've said before apply here thanks to everyone who has given this story a try and even more thanks if you've left a review.**

**Other than that let's get on with the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Devil May Cry or Tales of the abyss.**

The beginning of everything  


As Luke stepped out of his house the first thing he noticed was the several skeleton looking demons wrapped in robes approaching him with scythes.

Most people would probably be frightened by this, but Luke just sighed in annoyance as he knew this particular type of demon was very weak to the point where he'd even seen a few well-armed humans take on a group of, what he nicknamed as, little grims.

On top of being weak they were also known for not being very bright, showcased by their attempts to intimidate the Half-demon red head with a flame sword.

Luke just sighed again.

"You think you guys would have learned by the fiftieth demon I've killed."

With a flourish Luke stuck Flamberge in the ground in front of him as he proceeded to put on his coat with a fancy flourish.

With a final flick of his coattails Luke took a hold of Flamberge's hilt as he pulled it from the ground holding it out in front of him, a slight smirk beginning to appear on his face. Even if this kind of demon was really weak there was always a certain thrill to demon hunting that Luke enjoyed. He wasn't always sure if it was just the adrenaline or the fact that he was preventing these creatures from harming innocent people.

Before the fight could begin Luke felt a tingle in his nose grow more and more irritable.

"ah-ah-achoo!"

As the sound of Luke's sneeze echoed off the buildings on Luke's street He heard a loud rumbling behind him. As he turned to see he was shocked to see that the front of his shop had caved in on itself.

That's when Luke realized that these little grims weren't here by chance, but rather that the mysterious man that he'd just met had purposely left them here and that they had been quietly destroying the foundation of his shop. Luke wondered how distracted he was by his scuffle with the mysterious man.

A slight vein appearing on Luke's forehead when he realizes that he's been played he slowly turns to face the little grims, a look of comical bloody murder written on his face.

"Your guys' day just got worse." Luke threatened in a low voice. The little grims slowly backing up out of fear.

One of the little grims decided to prove its worth and run up to Luke its scythe poised to swing across its body.

Seeing the blow coming Luke ducked under the swing and swung flamberge upward bisecting the little grim up the middle.

As the first little grim turned to dust the others rushed forward.

The front two attempted a cross attack with one attacking with a vertical strike and the other attacking with a horizontal strike.

Using his superior speed Luke flash-stepped behind the two little grims and swung his sword in a wide arc effectively cutting the two little grims in half.

Another little grim attempted to get the jump on Luke from behind, He merely spun around and pulled Ebony from its holster on his belt and put it to the little grim's face and pulled the trigger reducing the skeleton to dust.

After seeing four of their kind killed in the blink of an eye the other little grims rushed forward, attempting to swarm Luke.

A smirk appeared on Luke's face as the adrenaline of the fight finally caught up with him.

He closed his eyes as the world seemed to slow down around him. When He opened his eyes again he was aware of every minor movement of the little grims.

With a start he rushed forward ducking under a swing from a little grim, slashing across its chest as he rushed past by. Luke quickly grabbed Ivory out of its holster, spinning it in his hand to deflect a blow from a little grim as he ran Flamberge through its chest. Quickly pulling Flamberge out of the corpse, Luke swung behind him cutting across another little grim.

The remaining little grims all jumped towards him at once attempting to overpower him. Luke's smirk got bigger as he sheathed Flamberge across the small of his back and pulled ebony and Ivory from their holsters and rushed through the mob of little grims as he fired expert rounds at their heads while also avoiding their scythe attacks in a frenzy of bullets and dust.

When the dust cleared Luke was the only one left standing, the barrels of Ebony and Ivory smoking.

Before he could relax he heard a ghostly wail echo through his street. Looking up he saw a purple cloud slowly descend onto his street and began to take to the shape of a grim reaper.

Contrary to popular belief grim reapers weren't some neutral force that came when your time was up they were demons plain and simple the souls they "reaped" were removed from the human cycle of reincarnation, meaning that soul will never be reborn.

Seeing the grim reaper Luke holstered Ebony and Ivory and unsheathed his sword knowing that his pistols wouldn't be as effective.

The reaper noticing Luke's battle stance comes at him, but instead of running at him blindly like the little grims it warped away followed by the sound of a clock tower bell. Luke knew this tactic since grim reapers tried to get their victims from behind so they couldn't resist as easily.

Luke rolled to side at the last moment just as the reapers scythe had materialized and leapt at the reaper with a thrust. The reaper put up its scythe to try and block the blow but Luke used the momentum of his attack to vault over the reaper and redirected his momentum in midair to go straight down as Luke slashed across the reapers back.

With a wail the reaper stumbled forward, blue blood leaking from its wound. Realizing that Luke was aware of its strategies the reaper warped again this time materializing right in front of Luke with its scythe raised for a downward strike. Luke merely sidestepped the swing and let the reaper imbed its scythe into the ground. Not wasting a beat Luke swung Flamberge at the pole of the scythe effectively cutting it in half. With the reaper defenseless Luke lunged for the reaper but instead of a head-on attack he flash-stepped behind it and swung Flamberge upwards effectively knocking the reaper off its feet and into the air He then leapt up and continued the attack with a couple well-placed spin kicks, then with a final rush of energy swung Flamberge upwards again with a shout.

"Swallow Fury!"

The reaper crashed down onto the stone road blue blood leaking from its various wounds but still barely alive.

But before Luke could deliver the final blow the ground began to shake violently.

"Is it an earthquake?" Luke asked to no one in particular.

His answer came from the center of the city where a giant tower was slowly coming out of the ground the various streets and buildings surrounding it being destroyed in the process and Luke silently hoped that no-one got seriously hurt.

At the top of this tower stood a lone figure, Luke's twin brother Asch Fon Fabre.

While Asch shared Luke's face his hair while also red descended into a dark maroon color. He wore a red and black guard on top of black armor that gave him a very knightly image. Unlike his brother who had a very warm and friendly air to him, Asch had a cold and distant aura to him. On his hip was a brilliant azure blade that looked like a shard of ice, the Vorpal sword the brother weapon to Luke's Flamberge. Around his neck hung a brilliant red jewel that matched with the jewel Luke had.

From his place on top of the tower he looked down at the world almost like a god would look down at his subjects.

Luke stared up at the tower from his place on the ground his hands beginning to shake from the evil aura radiating from the tower.

"You sure know how to make an entrance don't you Asch." He remarked to himself knowing full-well who was at the top of the tower.

Suddenly the reaper that Luke had fought got up and flew away towards the tower Luke watching it as it flew.

Now realizing where his battle with Asch would take place Luke turned to the tower, a look of grim resolve on his face.

"This should be interesting, right Asch!" Luke shouted towards the tower as he began his trek towards the confrontation with his brother.

**Well that's it for this chapter.**

**I should warn you guys now that after this chapter it's going to take me longer to update just cause I'm trying to split this story up by the levels in DMC 3 and it's after this mission that the levels get longer so as a result the chapters are going to be longer and take longer to write.**

**If you like the story please leave a review of what you like and even what you didn't like I do ask though that you guys please be civil with your reviews I'm pretty sure most of you guys would be pretty good about that anyway but I know there's going to be one or two people who won't be so just as a reminder. Other than that thank you all who read this far and I will see you guys in the next chapter.**

**See ya.**

**Next chapter: Tear **


	4. Tear

**Author notes: **

**Hey guys I'm back with a new chapter and in this chapter I'm gonna start introducing more of the characters, including a few that don't have counterparts in DMC 3. **

**Other than that sit back and enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Devil May Cry or Tales of the Abyss.**

Tear

Atop the demonic tower stood Asch, standing beneath several stone statues of demonic serpents a hint to the tower's true dark purpose. Walking up the ramp that led down into the tower was the mysterious man who had confronted Luke in his shop.

"You've returned Van." Asch acknowledged not bothering to turn to face his partner.

"I've been to see your brother." Van replied with a polite expression. "I could feel his strength from the brief moments I fought with him. He is defiantly your brother, truly worthy of a son of Lorelei."

"I don't care for praises about my brother." Asch replied coldly. "Did he have it?"

"You mean the Jewel? Then yes he did and he's taking good care of it, after all it's the only memento he has of the mother you both lost." Asch began to stroke the jewel hanging around his neck at the words.

"Such a shame, a loving family torn apart in the blink of an eye, the mother and father slain, the brothers then turning their swords on one another."

Asch turned his head to glare at the man who would so casually bring up his past.

"Van I do not pretend to know your past nor do I care to, however I ask that any comments you have about my past you keep to yourself."

Van felt the intensity of the glare and felt a bead of sweat roll down his face.

"Very well." Van replied warily.

It was at this time that Van truly took a second to marvel at the roof of the tower, various patterns were out carved out along the stone floor. Surrounding the round roof were several angel statues in between the serpent statues. The sky had become a swirling mass of brown since the tower had been awakened once more.

"So this is the demon tower, Temen-ni-gru." Van said more to himself than anyone else.

"In the old times it served two purposes, one was as a coliseum of sorts, the tower's second purpose was to act as a gateway from the human world to the demonic realm." Van exposited.

"I'm not interested in any of the history of this tower I'm only interested in the inheritance my father left for me here." Asch replied.

Before Van could say anything else the reaper that Luke had defeated appeared before Asch kneeling before him like a child who knows he's done something wrong blood still leaking from its wounds.

"_M-Master I tried to fight him but he was t-too strong_ _I couldn't b-beat him_." The reaper groveled.

Asch turned to walk away not even bothering to look at the reaper that was currently making excuses for its failure. The reaper, noticing its master's departure walked after him.

"_M-master_ _please give me one more chance to defeat the orange-haired one I promise next time I will-" _

With startling speed Asch unsheathed the Vorpal sword and stabbed behind him into the reapers chest.

"_M-master?"_ the reaper asked terrified.

As Asch sheathed his sword the reaper suddenly burst into pieces, the pieces falling down the length of Temen-Ni-Gru.

"That was rather cruel." Van said off-handedly.

"I have no need for weaklings who start groveling after they fail. I knew full well that that reaper wouldn't be able to beat Luke." Asch replied coldly.

"Then why did you send it?" Van asked confused.

"Because I want Luke at his absolute best when I beat him otherwise my victory would be meaningless." Asch answered as he walked away.

"Meaningless, huh." Van repeated to himself as he followed after Asch.

XXX

As the pieces of the reaper continued to fall down the Length of the tower, a lone female figure looked up at the falling pieces through a pair of binoculars.

The figure was undeniably beautiful with curves that most models would die for. She wore a pair of dark blue pants with purple patterns adorned up and down the legs. She also wore a sleeveless shirt that didn't cover her naval, the collar of the shirt was a bright magenta color with a tiny ribbon tied around her neck, while the bottom part of the shirt was white with three strips of diamond patterns running down her chest. Around her waist was a belt with two gun holsters both holding twin pistols and several packs of ammo. Around her arms were arm warmers that hid throwing knives. However her most striking features were her beautiful sky blue eyes framed by long flowing light brown hair. In her eyes held a held a determined look as well as a gentler emotion.

The figure was sitting on a on a bright red motorcycle looking up at the colossal tower.

"I've finally found you, Vandesdelca." The figure said to the wind.

Behind her three little grims were attempting to sneak up on her. If she knew they were there she didn't acknowledge it. As she revved her motorcycle the flames from the tail pipes scorching the little grims behind her as she sped away towards the tower.

XXX

As Luke continued on his way towards the tower he found himself walking through the "sleazy" part of the city, however with the rise of the tower the streets looked less gaudy and more post-apocalyptic.

Eventually Luke came across a large pile of debris that was blocking the way to the tower. Looking around the area Luke found that the only way to get around the debris was to pass through the only building with a door that was not buried. Unfortunately for Luke the building also happened to be a strip club.

Contrary to what Luke told Asch's partner he actually enjoyed the occasional party. He enjoyed the occasional drink with his friends Lloyd and Yuri. But Luke also had a limit on what he'll tolerate at a party, He never took drugs, He never had more than two or three drinks, and most importantly he didn't tolerate disrespect towards woman. Luke had lost track of the drunken potential rapists he's punched out before.

With an exasperated sigh Luke made his way towards the club, opening the door Luke saw that the bar area of the club was completely wrecked with chairs and tables overturned, broken glass all over the floor, and the jukebox in the corner on its side.

Luke walked through the room and into the stage area marveling at the neon lights that were still going. There were stairs next to the door leading up to the upper area. In the center of the room was triple tiered stage with a stripper pole in the center of it.

Before Luke could look around anymore he heard a shout.

"Who's there?!"

Turning to face the voice Luke looked across the room at the bar counter against the opposite wall to see the face of his friend Yuri Lowell.

Yuri was a tall man with a slim build but still had a good layer of muscle on him. He had a lovely set of grey eyes that held a large amount of life in them. Framing his face was long flowing black hair that reached his shoulders. He wore a black shirt with grey segments along the sleeves and the sides of the chest. He also wore black pants with black boots with three silver bands wrapped around his boots. Around his neck he wore a red scarf. On Yuri's hip hung a katana with a name engraved along the sheath, Second star. On the opposite side of Yuri's belt was a single magnum pistol in a holster.

"Yuri?" Luke asked quizzically.

"Luke? What are you doing here?" Yuri asked his expression relaxing.

"I could ask you the same thing." Luke replied happy to see that his friend hadn't been hurt when the tower came out of the ground.

"Me and Lloyd were passing by this club when that tower suddenly came out of the ground, we ducked in here to avoid the debris." Yuri answered relief evident on his face that Luke was okay as he walked up.

"Wait Lloyd's here too?" Luke asked surprised.

"Yeah he went to go scout out the area for any stray people." Yuri answered.

As soon as he said those words the exit doors suddenly opened. Luke turned to look towards the door and in walked Luke's other good friend Lloyd Irving.

Lloyd was a touch shorter than Luke with a similar build to Yuri. He had a set of hazel eyes along with a head of spiky brown hair with a single strand of hair falling in front of his face. He wore a red coat with two lines of white buttons down his chest. He also wore a pair of black pants with suspenders along with a pair of red boots. Around his neck he wore a white scarf. Around Lloyd's waist hung twin blades that hung from a belt.

Lloyd stepped into the room and immediately recognized Luke with a smile as he ran up to the two.

"Luke! It's good to see you're alright." Lloyd said excitedly.

"It's good to see you guys too." Luke replied a small smile tugging at his face.

"Lloyd, how are things outside?" Yuri asked curious.

"Aside from the debris from the tower I couldn't find anything not even bodies so I hope that means that everyone managed to get to safety."

Lloyd answered.

"Let's hope so." Luke replied optimistically.

"So what are you doing here Luke?" Lloyd asked.

"I have some business at that tower." Luke answered a little reluctantly.

"Well why don't we help you out?" Lloyd offered with a smile.

Luke thought about it for a second but then realized that he had to face Asch alone. "Sorry but this is something I have to do myself." Luke finally answered with determination in his voice.

Yuri looked unconvinced at that. "Is it Asch?"

Luke tensed up slightly at this.

Yuri thought about it for a second then looked up with a small smile. "Okay we'll let you handle it." Yuri said.

"But what if something happens?" Lloyd asked with worry in his voice.

"Well this is Luke we're talking about." Yuri said knowingly.

Lloyd looked unsure for a second and then relented with a sigh.

"Okay, it is your fight after all." Lloyd said exasperation on his face.

"But-" Yuri began. "We'll only let you go alone on one condition."

"What's the condition?" Luke asked curious.

"You have to kick enough ass for the three of us." Yuri said with a grin on his face.

"Heh, I think I can do that." Luke chuckled as he made his way to the door Lloyd had walked through.

"We'll hold down the fort here if you ever have to fall back somewhere." Lloyd said excitedly.

"So you're going to hold down the stripper fort." Luke joked knowing full well that Yuri and Lloyd had a similar moral system to himself.

"Just get going already dork." Lloyd said with mock annoyance across his face.

"Hey, Luke." Luke turned to face Yuri as he called his name.

"Give'em hell." Yuri said with a knowing smile.

Luke smirked for a second before turning around and walking through the door out into the cold air.

As soon as Luke stepped outside the first thing he noticed was that it had become nighttime since he had entered the club. Looking around Luke noticed Lloyd had been right about there being no one around, the atmosphere of the streets reminding him of a ghost town.

Luke continued his way to the tower taking a moment to marvel at the sheer size of the tower. Now that he was right under it Luke noticed that the tower looked similar to a Roman coliseum.

Eventually Luke came across an entryway into the tower. Around the room and along the ceiling were several layers of ice and frost. The room itself resembled a torture chamber with chains hanging from the ceiling minus any instruments of torture.

Before Luke could go any further a loud bestial voice roared at him.

"**Who dares enter the lair of Cerberus!" **

Looking up Luke noticed a giant three-headed dog covered in several layers of ice snarling at him in an attempt at intimidation.

Luke just got an amused smirk on his face when he realized that the dog was chained to the wall.

"Well someone's been eating their kibble, tell me what kind of brand did you used to get that big." Luke said mockingly.

"**You dare mock me human!" **Cerberus roared.

With a quick inhale Cerberus breathed out a large blast of ice towards Luke. Luke simply leaped over the blast as it harmless went past the open door that Luke had come from Luke landing safely on his feet.

"Easy there Fido if you wanted to play all you had to do was ask." Luke mocked as he unsheathed Flamberge.

"**You shall pay for your insolence!" **Cerberus roared as he raised his giant claws to swipe at Luke.

Luke using his speed rolled under the claws to avoid the strike. Dashing forward with Flamberge in hand Luke cut across Cerberus' massive leg.

As Cerberus roared in pain he lowered his head down. Seeing his chance Luke swung his sword at Cerberus' left head breaking the layer of ice and leaving the head vulnerable. Not missing a beat Luke attempted to follow up on his opening but Cerberus recovered and lunged at Luke before his attack could connect.

Thinking fast Luke leapt over Cerberus as the beast rushed under him, reorienting himself in midair Luke slashed across Cerberus' back as he jumped past.

Cerberus roared in pain as blood gushed from the wound, hunkering down in an attempt to stave off the pain.

Seeing his chance Luke leaped over Cerberus' back and onto the left head of the beast, with a flourish he plunged the blade of Flamberge into the head's skull. The head roared in pain and then suddenly began to turn to ice before exploding, sending ice shrapnel everywhere and knocking Luke back towards the door.

Cerberus followed up with a howl that caused the room to shake. Luke noticed a thin sheet of ice appear below him as he got to his knees. Looking up he saw several ice stalactites falling towards him. Using his trained reflexes Luke managed to avoid the stalactites from spearing him through.

Once the stalactites stopped falling Luke took Ebony and Ivory from their holsters and began firing at the sheets of ice that covered the right head.

Regaining its composure Cerberus charged at Luke again. Seeing it coming Luke took a hold of Flamberge and ran forward thrusting towards the open spots in the ice on the right head feeling the satisfying feeling of his sword piercing its cranium, using his and Cerberus' momentum Luke slid under the giant dog as it rushed past him letting go of Flamberge in the process.

With a roar of pain the head Luke had just stabbed quickly turned to ice and exploded sending more ice shrapnel everywhere along with Luke's Flamberge which embedded itself in front of the door Cerberus was guarding.

"**Hah foolish human, now you are defenseless." **Cerberus said mockingly

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Luke replied, a confident smirk still on his face.

"**Hah what can you do to me when you have no weapon." **Cerberus replied smugly.

To try and emphasize its point Cerberus rushed forward and swiped at Luke but quickly became confused when he didn't see Luke anywhere, looking up Cerberus saw Luke with Ebony Poised to shoot at him.

With a bang Luke pulled the trigger sinking a bullet into Cerberus' remaining head. With a roar of pain Cerberus recoiled back. Suddenly Luke was in front of Cerberus' face, Ebony pointed at a spot between his eyes. Fear overcoming pain when Cerberus realized that Luke's eyes had gained a red tint to them, the cocky smirk that was on Luke's face throughout the entire fight was no longer there instead replaced with an almost cold stare that promised death to all who opposed him.

However more terrifying than Luke was the ghostly image that Cerberus saw behind him. The image resembled Luke to a T wrapped in robes of black and white with a black scarf but instead of having red hair that descended into shades of orange the image's hair was a deep scarlet from end to end and instead of Emerald eyes the image had piercing gold eyes that seemed to stare into Cerberus' soul as he realized who he was seeing, Lorelei.

Terrified, Cerberus finally realized who it was he was facing.

"**Y-You're-"**

Luke didn't give him the chance to finish as Luke pulled the trigger with a bang the bullet piercing Cerberus' skull as Cerberus entire body started turning to ice and crumbled into several pieces.

Luke sighed, the adrenaline finally leaving his body as he put Ebony back in its holster and walked over to where Flamberge was still stuck in the ground the red tint leaving his eyes.

"Well that was a good warm-up." Luke said seemingly forgetting the cold aura he had been letting off just a moment ago.

"That was pretty good." a childish voice said from behind Luke.

Turning to face the voice Luke was shocked to discover a little girl with black twin tails and brown eyes in a little demon costume complete with devil wings around her waist floating above his head, a ghostly white light surrounding her.

"Huh? Who? What?" Luke asked confused about the little girl floating in front of him.

"I'm Anise Tatlin, Demon hunter extraordinaire or at least I was until, well…" the girl said looking down at her ghostly body.

"Wait does that mean you're a ghost?" Luke asked worried.

"Kinda, I am just a soul at the moment but I can still feel a connection to my body where ever it is." Anise answered surprisingly calm given her current situation.

"Wait so does that mean if you find your body you'll get your life back?" Luke asked an optimistic tint to his eyes.

"Well yes, but unfortunately I can't search this tower because of the demons in it and the fact that I have no way of defending myself." Anise answered grimly.

Luke thought about for a second before a thought came to his head.

"Why don't I help you find your body?" Luke asked with a friendly smile

"Wait, are you serious?" Anise asked incredulous.

"Of course I'm serious, I have my own business with this tower but I don't mind helping you search for your body while I'm here." Luke answered still with a smile.

"But you just met me." Anise said depressingly.

"What does that have to with anything, besides isn't that why you came up to me in the first place?" Luke answered with a knowing smile.

Anise looked surprised at that hanging her head so Luke couldn't see her face, a small smile trailing her face.

"Okay I think I'll take you up on your offer from this moment forth we're partners." She finally said with a big grin on her face.

"It's a deal then." Luke said with a friendly smile.

Before they could say anything else they both suddenly heard what sounded like a motorcycle coming closer.

"Someone's coming." Anise said as she vanished much to Luke's surprise.

As soon she did that a red motorcycle came bursting through the window above the door that Luke came through.

Skidding to a halt Luke could see that the rider was not only female but a gorgeous female with long flowing brown hair.

Walking up to the girl Luke put on a friendly smile as he attempted a conversation.

"Someone's in a hurry." Luke said jokingly.

Apparently that was not the right thing to say as a magic glyph appeared below the girl as she started chanting under her breath.

"M-magic?" Luke asked incredulous as he was instantly on guard.

"Enclair de Lames!" the woman shouted as light suddenly began erupting from under Luke's feet.

Luke barely managed to backpedal out of the way of the attack.

"Hey what the hell was that for?" Luke asked angry at being attacked out of the blue.

Suddenly the woman veered her motorcycle around facing Luke giving Luke a clear view of the woman's sky blue eyes and the complicated emotions hidden in them.

Without warning the woman revved her motorcycle and sped forward as if to run Luke over but at the last second she raised her front wheel and leaped over Luke into the window above the door Cerberus was guarding a surprised Luke staring at her from below.

"Well that was intense." Anise said floating next to Luke.

"She looked sad." Luke said his eyes downcast having seen the emotions in the woman's eyes.

"Ah well not much we can do about now." Anise answered seemingly without a care.

"I guess. By the way where did you go?" Luke asked curious about Anise's little vanishing act.

"Didn't I tell you, I can turn invisible." Anise said with a proud huff to her voice.

"Well that will be handy if things ever get really bad." Luke said in a matter-of-fact way.

"Anyway we should probably get going now." Anise said as she started floating towards the door that Cerberus had been guarding.

"Right." Luke replied his mind still on the mysterious woman with sadness in her eyes as he walked after Anise.

**Well that's it for chapter four and I want to apologize for the amount of long descriptions in this chapter but I wanted to introduce a few more characters into the story but I might have gone a touch overboard.**

**And on a related note , there's a surreal image for you Lloyd Irving from Tales of Symphonia, Yuri Lowell from Tales of Vesperia, and Luke Fon Fabre from Tales of the abyss all sharing a drink together in a bar.**

**Anyways leave a review of what you like and what you didn't like and I promise that this is the last chapter with more than 3 character descriptions and I'll see you guys in the next chapter.**

**See ya.**

**Next Chapter: Enter the lion's den.**


	5. Enter the lion's den

**A/N: Hey guys, here's a new chapter for your reading pleasure. Sorry for the long wait between updates, I just haven't had a whole lot of energy lately to sit down and write this, I'm going to finish this story hell or high water but I just had no motivation for like three days.**

**In this chapter I introduce another character (Don't worry it's only one this time.)**

**Other than that sit back and enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Devil May Cry or Tales of the Abyss. (yet.)**

Enter the lion's den

On one of the higher levels of the tower was a cat walk that led out into the open night sky suspended by several support beams that looked very demonic, fitting for the demonic tower. Standing in between two of the beams was Asch, looking down at the world with a cold stare. Sitting down next to one of the beams was Van currently flipping through a small novel.

Without turning away from his spot on the catwalk Asch spoke having sensed the mysterious woman.

"It appears we have an uninvited guest of sorts." said the redhead.

"So it appears." Van said having sensed the mysterious woman's presence as well.

Closing his book and rising to his feet he continued speaking.

"Allow me to deal with her." Van requested.

"Why?" Asch asked bluntly.

"I happen to know that woman." Van answered his book still in hand.

Asch thought for a second and then relented.

"Very well, but take heed to avoid confronting Luke." Asch warned.

"Thank you." Van said with a bow.

As he walked away he mumbled under his breath.

"So you've come, Mystearica."

XXX

As Luke and Anise walked in the first thing they noticed was the sheer size of the room as it spiraled upwards into a double helix of stair-cases, they also noticed that the inside of the tower had a very Gothic design with gargoyle statues sitting at each floor where the stairs intersected. In the center of the room was a giant stone statue of what looked three interlocking demons.

"Wow, it's huge." Anise said as she looked around the lower floor.

Luke just nodded as he looked up noticing that he could see the ceiling from the ground floor.

"This must just be the first section of the tower since I can see a ceiling and I know the tower is taller than this." Luke said.

"Then let's get going." Anise said excitedly as she turned to float over to one of the stair-cases, Luke following after her.

"Oh I just realized I never got your name." Anise asked as she flew beside Luke.

"Luke, Luke Fon Fabre." Luke answered with a small smile.

"Luke, that's easy to remember, okay Luke nice to meet'cha." Anise proclaimed with a grin.

"Likewise." Luke said returning the grin.

As they climbed the steps to the second level they eventually came across a bright blue door.

"Hey where do you think this leads?" Anise asked curiously.

"let's go through and find out." Luke said pushing the door open into a hallway with suits of armor lining the walls.

They walked through the hallway and through the door at the end into a large round room that had two levels, a dual stair-case leading up to the second floor.

As Anise floated up to the second level she noticed a mechanism across the way from the door.

"Hey Luke come check this out." Anise shouted to Luke who was making his way up the stairs.

Walking up to the mechanism Luke noticed that it resembled an elevator motor with three indentions in the middle of the tube.

"It looks like a motor of some kind." The redhead noted.

"What are these holes for?" Anise asked noticing the small indentions in the tube

"I guess that's where the key that operates the motor goes which means we'll have to find three keys or one key."

"Like a trident or something?" Anise offered.

"Hmm, maybe." Luke pondered with a hand on his chin.

Turning around they noticed another stair-case that went up to a lone round platform with an iron cage placed around it.

Walking up to it the two demon hunters noticed a silver orb on a pedestal inside the iron cage.

"Ooh what's that?" anise asked with a slight twinkle in her eye.

"I'm not sure. Maybe it's a key to something." Luke offered.

"Or maybe it's a valuable treasure." Anise suggested the twinkle in her eye becoming brighter as she rushed through the bars to grab it, forgetting that she was only a soul at the moment as her hand passed through the orb.

"Doh, I hate not having a body." Anise said frustrated.

"Luke, can you get the treasure for me?" Anise said putting her index fingers on her cheeks to try and make herself cuter.

Luke just deadpanned "What do you want ME to do about it I can't pass through solid iron, and besides that motor probably operates the cage anyway." pointing towards the motor.

"Really?" the little girl said with a look that resembled a child who was just told they were going to the amusement park.

"Okay let's go find that key." The soul said as she made her way to the door on the second floor with Luke following behind her with a sweatdrop.

Walking into the next room the first thing the two saw was a large lift in the center of the room surrounded by four pillars around its corners that led up into the next floor.

Walking onto the lift caused it to jolt as it rose from the floor up into the next floor.

The lift eventually let out into a spacious room with exposed pipes overhead and a bright green door at the end of a hallway. Luke mentally marveled at the state of the tower, which looked like it had seen regular use since it was sealed rather than it rising for the first time in decades.

Opening the green door Luke and Anise found themselves back in the first chamber again this time on a higher floor. Looking up Luke noticed a small pedestal higher up on the next floor.

"Hey Anise I think I see something up there, can you check it out?"

"I'm on it." Anise replied as she flew towards the pedestal. A she approached she began to see what looked like a sun dial on top of the pedestal upon closer inspection she realized that the dial itself was missing.

"It looks like a sun dial but the dial's gone." Anise shouted down to Luke.

"Damn, that means we have to find another key." Luke quietly cursed.

"there's a door on the floor above you let's try going through and see if there's anything there."

"Okay." Luke responded as he made his way up the stairs towards the door Anise had pointed to.

As they passed through the door the first thing they noticed was the deep chasm to their Left that seemed almost bottomless, a single stone stair-case the only thing bridging the two sides of the chasm. Across the way from the door was a mural with demonic writing all over the base.

"What does it say?" Anise asked staring at the writing in confusion.

"It says "Steel thy soul, the future is there for those who march deftly forth to face it."

"Steel thy Soul? What does that mean? Does it want you to run across the stairs?" Anise asked confused by the riddle.

Luke looked at the staircase in question before walking up and unsheathing his sword. Before Anise could ask him what he was doing he gave the staircase a hard tap with his sword. At first nothing seemed to happen but after a second the staircase fell apart into several pieces.

"What the?!"

"I noticed the staircase had no support at either end and I bet that "steel thy soul" is referring to an item of some kind." Luke explained.

"So if we have that item we can get across?" Anise asked putting the pieces together in her head.

"Probably." Luke answered as he turned to a large door that was next to the mural.

The next room they walked into was a large round room that resembled a worn down cathedral with arches that weren't supporting anything, damaged walkways, and giant layers of webs along the ground and walls. Turning his head Luke could see out into the open air through a broken stained glass window. When he turned his head to the other side he saw giant holes along the walls that were covered in several layers of webbing.

"Ew ,its gross in here. There's webs all over the place, it's gloomy, and there's big web holes in the wall." Anise exclaimed with a disgusted face.

Before Luke could reply they heard a loud screech echo through the room. Looking up they saw a giant centipede looking demon flying over head. Its head resembled a venus fly trap with six blue eyes on either side of its head.

"Ehh! That's a Gigapede." Anise exclaimed.

"Anise calm down if it doesn't notice us maybe we can slip past."

As soon as he said that the Gigapede stopped mid-flight and turned towards them as its twelve eyes locked on to Luke.

Without missing a beat Luke took Ebony and Ivory from their holsters and began firing at the Gigapede while running as far from Anise as he could.

"Anise, fly up and try and find a weak point so I can start aiming for it!"

"Got it." She said as she flew up so she could survey the battle while looking for any weak point she could.

Luke continued running around the room while firing at the Gigapede, the bullets just bouncing off of the Gigapede's tough outer shell as he fired.

The Gigapede simply turned around and attempted to dive bomb Luke as he passed near one of the holes in the wall.

Luke barely managed to avoid being run over as the Gigapede pulled up at the last second to avoid crashing into the ground, the rush of air from the attack knocking Luke off his feet as it flew into a hole in the wall.

"Is it running away?" Luke wondered out loud.

"Luke, be careful! Gigapedes use the holes they make in their territory to catch their prey off guard!"

"Okay, Thanks for the heads up." Just as he finished saying that the Gigapede was back and was forming Purple orbs of energy on each of its segments.

Luke quickly unsheathed his sword as the Gigapede shot the orbs at him. Rushing forward he began cutting through the orbs as they got close to him, the orbs dissipating upon being slashed. For the last orb Luke turned Flamberge in his hand and hit the orb with the flat of the blade knocking it back towards the Gigapede, the orb slamming into the side of the giant bug, causing it to stumble out of the air as it crashed into Luke sending him flying into one of the broken arches. The Gigapede managed to right itself before it crashed and flew up again making it's way around to strike at Luke again.

"Luke, are you okay?!" Anise asked with concern in her eyes.

"Yeah I'll be fine." He got to his feet and picked up Flamberge from its place a few feet from his spot next to the arch.

"Luke, I just remembered that the Gigapede is weak from attacks from above since its shell is weaker at the top of its body." Anise explained.

Luke thought for a moment about how to go about using that weakness before looking up with a glint of confidence in his eyes.

"Okay here I go." He said before running up to the Gigapede.

"Hey Giga, what's the matter? Ya scared?" Luke mocked.

That apparently did the trick as the Gigapede began charging Luke.

"That did the trick." And with that he turned and ran for the wall, the Gigapede right on his heels.

Anise wondered briefly wondered what Luke was planning as she saw him near the wall and with a burst of speed put his foot on the wall and started running up it. But to Anise's dismay the Gigapede turned and starting flying up the wall after Luke. With a push Luke kicked off the wall and backflipped over the Gigapede, with Flamberge in hand Luke redirected his momentum to slash straight down along the Gigapede's spine starting from the head and going through the tail.

With a deafening screech, the Gigapede began to break apart in midair, green blood oozing from its wound. Luke managed to land on his feet as the segments of the Gigapede fell around him eventually turning into green blood and dissolving into the floor.

Anise floated over to Luke with an excited look on her face. "Luke that was awesome."

"Eh that was nothing." attempting to sound humble.

"But that was still really cool the way you were running up the wall like that and backflipping through the air. I mean I knew you were strong before but I didn't think you were this strong." The spirit rambled on excitedly.

Luke just chuckled as Anise continued to praise his battling skills before raising a hand as a sign for her to stop.

"Okay Anise I think I get it. If we don't keep going we won't be able to find your body or get to Asch."

"Oh right sorry." Anise apologized.

"By the way who's Asch?"

Luke stiffened a little at the question.

"He's the person who raised this tower… and my brother." He answered with a grim look on his face.

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to bring up bad memories." Anise said apologetically.

Luke just shook his head.

"Don't worry about it I was the one who brought him up and I've already made peace with the score I have to settle with him."

"Score?" Anise asked shyly.

"Sorry, I'm rambling let's get going." Luke said avoiding the question as he walked to the door on the opposite side of the room.

Anise seeing the faraway look in his eyes decided to drop the subject for the time being.

Walking into the next room the two demon hunters noticed that it was much smaller than the previous few rooms and that it had various cogs and machines working on the other side of a fence from the door. In the wall next to the door was a small counter with a round dial on it.

"Hey isn't this the sun dial we were looking for?" Anise asked while examining the dial.

"It looks like it, let's take it with us and see." Luke offered.

"Okay."

"Oh are you kiddies leaving so soon." A mocking voice echoed through the room.

When Luke turned around a pastey white face with glasses was staring straight at him with a creepy smile on its face.

Luke quickly backed up and reached for Ebony and Ivory. Taking a closer look at the figure Luke saw what looked like a jester outfit.

"Hold it right there Dante." The Jester said with an exaggerated huff.

Luke just stared at him in confusion.

"My name's not Dante." Luke said with mild annoyance.

"Aren't you Dante Sparda?" the Jester asked confusion written on his face.

"No it's Luke, Luke fon Fabre." Luke answered getting a little fed up with this game.

"Did I grab the wrong script?" the jester asked himself as he pulled out a script labeled "Devil May Cry 3: Dante's awakening".

"Ah who cares about some dumb script I've always been good at improve." The jester said to himself.

"Look did you want something or not, because if not then we're leaving." Luke said finally getting fed up with the jester.

The jester in turn looked up and finally noticed Anise floating behind Luke.

"Ooh what do we have here, a spirit without a body?" the jester pondered as he approached Anise who had begun backing away from the bizarre character.

Before the jester could follow after her Luke was suddenly in his face, Ivory aimed at a spot between his eyes. Luke's eyes had also gained a red tint to them.

"Get away from her you freak before I blow you away!" Luke screamed at the jester who had jumped back out of fear.

"Easy there kid, violence never solved anything." Luke just shoved Ivory at the jesters face to reiterate the point.

Flustered the jester began again. "How about we start over, my name is Dist." Bowing in an obviously mocking manner.

Luke just answered by unsheathing Flamberge and swinging down at the jester. When the blow never connected Luke looked up to see that Dist had warped away somewhere else.

"Youhoo Devil-boy." Luke turned to see Dist hanging upside down from one of the exposed pipes in the fenced off area.

"Someone's got a bit of a temper." Dist said with a haughty tone to his voice.

In response Luke fired bullets at Dist's feet forcing him to skip around to avoid being shot at while Luke moved the spray of bullets closer to Dist forcing Dist to turn and run.

Once Dist was out of sight Anise let out a relieved sigh and Luke holstered Ivory and sheathed Flamberge the red tint in his eyes fading away again.

"Whew that was creepy." Anises sighed.

"Are you okay Anise." The redhead asked concerned.

"Yeah I'm okay, though I don't like to think what he might've done if you hadn't stopped him."

"That's good anyway we should probably head back to that sun dial pedestal." Luke said as he scooped up the sun dial in his hands and started walking towards the door.

"Hey Luke…" Anise began shyly.

"What's up?"

"Um… Thanks… for protecting me." Anise said with a light blush.

Luke just chuckled. "No problem we are partners aren't we."

Anise looked at him in surprise for a second before a big grin came over her face.

"Right." The young ghost said as she followed Luke through the door.

**A/N: I hated writing the middle part of this chapter so much. Unfortunately there will be a couple chapters where nothing really happens in them just because the missions there based on from the game don't have much plot in them either.**

**Other than that please leave a review of what you like or didn't like and I will see you for the next chapter.**

**See ya.**

**Next Chapter: the honorable demon**


	6. The honorable demon

**A/N: Hey guys I'm back with a new chapter after a week and a half. Sorry about the late update but I got a bad case of the F%#$-its and a couple personal problems but mostly the F%#$-its. **

**Anyway guys sit back and enjoy the new chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of the abyss or Devil May Cry**

The honorable demon

The first thing Luke and Anise noticed when they stepped back into the ruined cathedral was the bizarre fountain sitting in front of the door. The fountain had a large saucer at the top inside of which held a meld of three freakish heads that were slowly leaking blood. Supporting the saucer were three stone statues of demonic birds with only a pair of wings and a tail each.

Before they could examine it any further they heard Dist's voice echo through the room.

"_Someone's got a bit of a trigger finger, but since I'm a nice guy allow me to give you this gift as an apology for my rude behavior, no need to be humble after all we're pals aren't we?"_

As he spoke blood finally overflowed from the saucer and dripped down onto the statues as the eyes of the statues suddenly turned to jade as the statues sprung to life, their bodies turning from stone to blood.

As the birds rushed them Luke unsheathed Flamberge and performed two diagonal strikes in a quick cross attack effectively cutting two of the birds in half. Before he could cut at the last one the halves of the birds he just cut grew into full grown birds effectively doubling the amount of enemies.

"Luke, be careful those are Blood-goyles, you have to shoot at them first before you can cut them." Anise warned.

"Now she tells me." Luke grumbled under his breath.

As the blood-goyles dived at Luke again he quickly took Ebony and Ivory from their holsters and fired in a ring of bullets above him. As the bullets hit the blood-goyles they suddenly turned back into stone and fell to the ground. But before they could hit the ground Luke unsheathed Flamberge and swung in a circle around himself effectively slicing through the blood-goyles as they turned to dust In a ring around his feet.

Before Luke could let out a sigh of relief he heard Dist's voice echo through the room again.

"_Impressive devil-boy, how about you and me duke it out in a little fisticuffs."_

Before Luke could react a pillar of lightning appeared around him as he lost consciousness.

XXXX

When Luke opened his eyes the first thing he noticed was that he was on a giant round platform surrounded by large pillars of various sizes. The air in the area held a purplish tint to it.

Luke turned towards the center of the platform when he heard a light hum that sounded like a magic glyph watching as Dist emerged from the circle.

"Welcome to hell devil-boy." a giant sneer across the jester's face.

"Where the hell have you sent me clown?" Luke shouted finally having had enough of Dist's shenanigans.

"Just a little pocket dimension of mine, if you can beat me I'll send you back, that is of course if you can."

That was all the provocation Luke needed as he quickly unsheathed Flamberge and leapt at Dist with a downward swing. Dist managed to sidestep the swing with a cartoonish flair as Luke swung at him again. After a few more swings Dist warped away to a spot behind Luke.

"Come on Devil boy is that the best you can do." He mocked with a clap.

Luke took and Ebony and Ivory from their holsters and began firing at the clown's feet causing him to dance around to avoid the bullets, figuring that Dist would just warp away if he shot at him directly.

After a few seconds of avoiding the bullets Dist warped away again exhaustion evident on his face as he began panting.

Without missing a beat Luke unsheathed Flamberge and rushed at Dist as energy began to form around the blade. With a shout Luke drove his sword into Dist's abdomen with shout.

"Sonic thrust!" As he said that the energy that had formed around the blade was released through the tip of the blade and sent Dist flying across the platform.

Dist landed roughly on his back a few feet from where he had been. Luke looked down harshly at the fallen clown, Flamberge still held firmly in his hands.

"Just give up clown, you can't beat me."

Dist slowly climbed to his feet his wound having already closed with a stream of blood where he had been stabbed.

"Don't get cocky you brainless barbarian, I haven't gotten serious yet." As he finished saying that a transparent shield came up around him as four magic portals appeared behind him and began shooting out giant energy balls towards Luke.

Luke waited until the first four drew close to him and jumped through the gap between them, as he landed he saw the next one getting closer and slid under it with the momentum from his jump. As the last two came towards him Luke jumped over them placing him a few feet away from Dist who instantly tensed up when he realized the danger he was in.

Since Dist was trapped in his shield Luke had ample time to dash forward and cut across Dist's chest with a powerful swing of his sword as an arc of blood followed the swing as Dist crumbled to the ground, the magic portals vanishing with the defeat of their caster.

Luke looked down at Dist's fallen form with a look of annoyance.

"Are you gonna send me back or are we gonna have to continue this fight?"

Dist merely chuckled as he lay on the floor.

"Very well devil-boy I'll send you back but only if you can catch me." With that Dist formed a pillar of magic water that he quickly vanished into.

Luke quickly jumped into the portal after him. "Dist wait!" but when he touched the pillar of water he found himself losing consciousness again as he blacked out.

XXXX

"Luke."

"Luke!"

Luke slowly opened his eyes to see that he was back in the ruined cathedral with a panicked Anise floating over his head, sitting up he noticed that the sun dial was lying next to him completely intact.

"Luke you're okay." She tried to throw her arms around his neck but as she was only a spirit her arms just passed through his neck, pulling back she just stared at her hands with a look like she was about to cry.

Luke realizes that he had been taking her condition for granted, it wasn't that she couldn't touch certain things she couldn't touch ANYTHING. She couldn't feel the breeze that Luke felt coming through the room, she couldn't feel the ground beneath her feet, she couldn't even feel the warmth of her friend who she had been worried sick over.

"What happened?" wanting to get both of their minds away from the depressing thought of Anise's condition.

"You just vanished for a few minutes and then just came back in a big pillar of water." Anise answered trying to get her mind off her situation.

"I see so Dist wasn't totally lying." Luke said with a thoughtful look.

"You fought with that creepy clown?"

"Yep completely mopped the floor with him." Luke replied confidently.

Anise chuckled at that "Of course no one could stand up to the great demon slayer Luke Fon Fabre his big head strikes fear into the hearts of demons everywhere." Anise teased a small smile making its way onto her face.

"Hey." Luke complained in mock anger as the goofiness of the conversation caught up with them and they suddenly found themselves laughing.

After a minute of laughing, Luke scooped up the sun dial into his hands "Let's get going."

"right." And with that they made there way back to the sun dial pedestal passing through the room with the mural and into the main chamber again. As Luke stepped up to the pedestal he gently placed the sun dial on the pedestal with a small click, suddenly the wall next to the pedestal opened up revealing a trident.

"Hey I betcha this is the key to that motor." Anise offered with a knowing gleam in her eyes.

"You're probably right let's take it with us." Luke said picking up the trident and making his way back to the room with the motor.

Once he got to the motor he stuck the trident into the indentions along the tube, as the motor buzzed to life a pulley system above the motor started turning and lifted the cage from around the silver orb.

As they walked up to the orb Luke reached out to grab it when he was suddenly hit with mental images of a name.

"_Soul of steel"_

"Luke are you okay." Luke's eyes refocused to see that Anise was floating in front of him with a concerned look.

"Yeah I'm fine I just heard a name in my head _Soul of steel _which means this is the item I wastalking about earlier."

"Ahh you mean its not treasure." The spirit whined slightly.

"Hey look on the bright side with this we can explore more of the tower right."

Anise just sighed with a look of exasperation. "I guess."

Luke just gave her a confused look. "Why do you care so much about treasure?"

Anise's eyes suddenly lit up when he brought up treasure. "Who wouldn't care about treasure in this situation, going into an ancient tower filled with untold secrets and riches."

Luke just gave her a bemused look. "Untold secrets and riches that we can't take with us."

Anise just gave Luke an irritated look "Oh boo."

"Hehe come on let's get back to the mural." With that he turned to the door and walked back to the mural room.

Once they got to the mural room Luke stared down at the chasm in front of him as he thought of how to get across, when he looked up he took a step forward and placed his foot firmly on the air where the staircase had been, the soul of steel glowing softly in his hand as he walked out to the middle of the chasm.

"Luke how are you doing that?" Anise asked with a surprised look on her face.

"I guess it's the soul of steel that's doing it." He said holding up the orb in hand to show that it was currently glowing.

"Cool." And with that they made their way over to the other side of the chasm which had a large iron door with multiple locks along the side of it and a small round indention on the front of it.

Luke walked up to the door and placed the soul of steel in the indention which caused the door to release it locks and open revealing another door this time made of wood.

Going through the door the two demon hunters came across another room with an elevator this time though the elevator seemed more mechanized than the last one.

Stepping onto the elevator caused it to rise up and move towards the next floor.

Looking over at Luke Anise noticed that he was holding back a shiver.

"Luke are you okay?"

The red-head turned his head to look her in the eyes.

"Yeah just a little apprehensive about what's up ahead."

"You mean your brother." Luke let out a soft sigh at that.

"It's just odd being here knowing that the person I spent almost every waking moment with when I was younger is the same as the cold and distant person at the top of this tower."

Anise looked confused at that "Wait I don't get it if you two were so close why are you trying to kill each other?"

Luke got a sad look on his face when the memory of a beautiful women, with flowing dark red hair, lay in a puddle of her own blood, two boys screaming for her not to leave them.

"After our mother died we steadily grew further and further apart until three years ago when we fought each other over what had happened to her and I ended up winning."

"That's-" she tried to say before Luke cut her off.

"That's why I have to do this, as his brother I have to be the one to stop him before he does something terrible."

Anise couldn't help but gawk at that. "But that's not right, he's your brother you should be standing back to back when times get rough not trying to kill each other every chance you get!"

Luke just gave her a sad smile. "Thanks for that Anise but that's no longer possible with the way things are."

Anise had a sad look on her face again as she thought over what Luke just told her about his brother.

Before she could press the issue they had reached the next floor which led out into an open walk way.

"Come on let's get going" Luke said once again avoiding the issue as he walked towards the walkway, Anise following behind him as the issue was dropped.

Stepping out into the open air Luke shivered slightly this time from the cold. The walkway was a modest size that jutted out from the side of the tower. The walkway eventually reached a small area with various weapons on racks and a giant iron door blocking the way to the next room.

Pushing open the door into the next room the first thing Luke noticed was that the chamber was of modest size and was very well-kept for having been in the ground for two thousand years, two giant stone statues stood at the sides of the exit door. The room itself was pretty bland with stone walls and a stone floor.

"Well this is a surprise, it's been a while since I've had a guest." A male voice said from across the room.

Looking across the room Luke saw a blond haired man sitting in front of the exit door, The man wore dark jeans with a small blue design on the hem of each pant leg, he also wore a dark blue jacket which went over a yellow shirt with two brown stripes criss-crossing to make an X, a single sword with a brilliant sky blue blade and a gold hilt was leaning on his shoulder.

Luke looked at the man warily before walking up to him.

"Who are you?"

"Hmm you know it's been a while since I thought about it so I kind of forgot." The mysterious man put his chin in his fist as he thought, Luke just sweatdropped at the mysterious man who forgot his own name.

"Well then just call me Guy." The man said as he got to his feet and strapped his sword to his hip.

"You must be one of the sons of Lorelei." Guy said with a matter of fact tone.

"How do you know who I am?" Luke asked shocked.

"You're his spitting image and you also have the same aura he did, that of a kind and powerful soul."

"You met my dad?" the redhead asked

"Not directly but I was in the underworld army when he was still its general."

"So you are a demon, but if that's so then how come you look human?"

Guy chuckled at that "that's easy I'm only half-demon same as you."

If Luke wasn't shocked before he was now "No way."

"You didn't think you were the only half-demon did you." Guy said with an amused look on his face.

"Hehe." Luke chuckled sheepishly.

"Look Guy it was nice meeting you but I have to go so maybe I'll see you-" as Luke tried to walk past him Guy quickly unsheathed his sword and held in front of him forcing Luke to jump back.

"Guy what are you doing?"

"Sorry but you don't seem to understand the situation, as one of the guardians of Temen-ni-gru I can't let anyone control this tower (even though I already let that happen). If you want to get past you're going to have to beat me."

"What?! but that makes no sense." Anise who had remained silent for most of the conversation finally spoke up.

"Okay." Luke said before Anise could say anything else.

"Luke why-"

Luke just gave Anise a sad smile "It's okay Anise like Guy said it's his responsibility to stop people from using the tower just like it's my responsibility to stop Asch."

"But" Anise said unsure.

"Your name is Anise?" Guy asked looking at the spirit.

"What if it is." Anise bit back.

"I won't ask you to forgive me for fighting at a time like this especially when I don't want to fight either however could I ask you to stay clear of the fight, I don't want you caught up in it." Guy asked politely.

"What you expect me to listen to you after you pointed a sword in my friend's face. Why I oughta-" Anise fumed.

"Anise please stay clear of the fight." Luke asked calmly.

"But Luke-" Anise tried to say, worry evident on her face.

"It'll be okay, I'll win you just watch." Luke responded confidently.

"Okay." The spirit said reluctantly as she flew to the top of one of the statues.

"You have a good friend there." Guy said politely.

"She's my partner, I know she'll always have my back." Luke replied proudly.

"Heh it's a shame if we had met earlier we might have been friends." Guy said with a sad smile.

"I kinda wish we had." Luke replied sadly not knowing why but feeling almost at ease when he was talking with Guy almost forgetting that they were about to fight.

"Me too umm…" Guy trailed off not knowing his opponents name.

"Luke, Luke fon Fabre." The redhead answered noticing Guy trailing off as he unsheathed Flamberge from his back and held it in front of him.

"Okay Luke whenever you're ready." raising his sword in a similar manner to Luke.

Luke brought his sword up before rushing forward and swinging Flamberge upwards. Guy dodged, jumping back and quickly following up with a stab, which Luke blocked with the flat of his sword, then turning it to throw Guy off balance before throwing another vertical swing from above, which Guy also blocked.

The battle quickly turned into a flurry of blades and sparks that was almost too quick to see. Anise was shocked at how ferociously they were fighting as Luke and Guy continued to fight in a deadly dance of swords and sparks as each managed to land minor cuts on the other.

With one final clash Luke and Guy locked swords and for the first time since the fight began Anise could see the extent of their injuries. Luke had various cuts along his arms and a shallow cut along his chest, while Guy also had various cuts along his arms and a single cut along his cheek.

But what shocked Anise the most was the grin that was on Luke's face as he struggled against Guy.

"You're pretty good Guy." Luke grunted as he continued to struggle against Guy's sword.

"You're not bad yourself." As Guy finished saying that Luke broke the deadlock and sweeped at Guy's legs, Guy avoided the swipe by jumping up and swinging down at Luke with his sword, which Luke blocked and pushed back, forcing Guy to jump back towards the exit door. The two half-demons took a moment to catch their breath as small beads of sweat ran down their heads.

"Not bad Luke I haven't had a fight like this in years." Guy applauded a small smile working its way onto his face.

"Heh you know if we weren't in a life or death situation I would love to spar with you a little bit." Luke said as his cuts closed up after a few seconds.

"Unfortunately this is when the warm-ups end." As Guy finished saying that he held up his sword as flames began to appear around Guy's feet as a tornado of fire erupted from the flames and honed in on Luke.

Luke swung Flamberge horizontally in an attempt to disperse the flames, but only managed to fan the flames as they went around him and hindered his vision, as he lost track of Guy in the fire.

Luke suddenly heard a sound come from behind him and slashed at the noise, but only succeeded in cutting through flames, as he felt Guy's presence behind him he blocked the attack that would have went across his back, the resulting force from the clash pushing away the flames allowing Luke to see Guy again.

"So you can control fire, well you aren't the only one." As he said that he back handed Guy with his fist and raised his sword high slamming it down with a wave of fire and a shout.

"devil's inferno!" Guy tried to backpedal away from the attack but wasn't able to outrun the heat-wave. As he felt the heat lick at his skin he threw out his arms as razor winds suddenly formed around him, blowing away the flames and cutting into Luke causing him to stumble back.

The two combatants panted from exhaustion giving each other a moment to heal there injuries. Luke had various cuts along his chest and a burn mark on his shoulder, Guy had a couple burn marks on his arms and a bruise on his cheek.

Luke and Guy stood tall as they continued to stare the other down until they rushed forward and clashed with their swords again going into another flurry of sparks but this time flames and wind were thrown into the mix.

Luke managed to avoid a horizontal swing from Guy by jumping high into the air, when he was up there he twisted his body and redirected his momentum to go down as he tried to hit Guy with a havoc strike. Guy managed to block the attack and pushed back forcing Luke to jump back but before he could land Guy sent a stream of fire at him which Luke managed to avoid by redirecting his momentum to dodge out of the way, but as Luke landed Guy swung his sword upward at him sending a blast of air towards him, all Luke could do was put up Flamberge in defense as the blast of air went through him and left several gashes along his body.

Guy rushed forward with his sword in hand and attempted to follow up on his attacks with a few sword strikes but Luke managed dodge each of the swings, as the last one came Luke spun around and as he pulled ivory from its holster he blocked a downward strike from guy as he crouched down and aimed ivory at Guy's stomach at point-blank range as he gathered his energy into the barrel and pulled the trigger. The bullet that came out was encased in energy as it expanded and eventually enveloped Guy, who instead of being shocked had a small smile on his face, and with rush of energy Guy was sent flying into the wall behind him and slumped to the ground, beaten but still breathing.

Luke took a few deep breathes as the adrenaline left his body.

"Luke that was awesome." Anise who had been watching the battle with bated breath exclaimed happily.

"That got pretty intense for a while there." Luke said as he slowly walked over to where Guy was still leaning against the wall no longer with his head slumped.

"You okay Guy?" Luke asked noticing that Guy had his head raised as he sighed from the fight.

"Aside from having no energy left I'm fine." Guy chuckled slightly.

"You held back didn't you Luke?" Guy accused jokingly.

"Wait what?!" Anise was shocked to hear that.

"Only on that last shot, if I had pumped all my energy into that shot it would have killed you which would have been bad." Luke answered with a chuckle.

Guy got a sad smile on his face when he heard that. "Heh thanks for that Luke but that will have been in vain in the end."

Luke was confused by that until he looked down and saw Guy's hand slowly disappearing.

"Guy what's happening?!"

"It's a condition of my contract as a guardian, if I am ever defeated my penalty for losing is my life."

"What that's insane!" Anise said with shock on her face.

"There's gotta be something we can do." Luke said as he looked around the room for anything that might help save his friend.

"Luke there isn't anything you can do for me now, besides maybe this is for the best." Guy said with calm demeanor.

Luke suddenly got angry at that as he grabbed the front of Guy's shirt "You idiot don't you dare say it's for the best that you die you have to keep living until the end."

Guy got a content smile at that. "So I was right about you."

"About me?" Luke asked confused as his grip on Guy loosened.

"You remember when I said you had a similar aura to Lorelei?" Luke nodded at that.

"Well it was a bit of a white lie, while Lorelei was kind and strong he was also very distant from his comrades and never got too close to anyone almost like a cloud that was just out of reach. But with you I can see the overwhelming kindness and connection you have with other people and you're immensely strong in your own right."

Luke was a little shocked to hear Guy speak so highly of him.

"Luke can ask you to do me a favor." Guy asked as his body continued to disappear.

"sure."

"When my body dissolves take my soul and use it to stop the person who raised this tower."

"Wait your soul?" Anise asked confused.

"He wants me to take the devil arm that's formed from his soul." Luke explained.

"What?!"

"So Luke will you do it?" Guy asked again patiently.

"Okay." Luke replied fighting back a lump in his throat.

"Thank you I'm glad I got to meet you Luke, you too Anise." As Guy said that Luke and Anise looked on the brink of tears.

"Guy." Anise said miserably.

"I'm glad I met you too Guy." Luke said sadly.

"I hope I get to meet you two in the next life." As Guy said that the final pieces of his body began to disappear.

"Good-bye, my friends." And with that Guy fully disappeared.

Luke hung his head as a few tears fell from his eyes while Anise cried, her tears disappearing before they hit the ground.

In Guy's place lay a single double-edged sword that was as long as Flamberge with green hilt with a glass orb on the pommel that had a swirl of green and red energy.

Luke picked up the sword, which Luke decided to name Shakunage, and strapped it along the small of his back above Flamberge with the handle pointing right instead of left.

Standing up Luke began to make his way to the exit door with Anise following close behind as they both silently grieved over the loss of their friend.

**A/N: And that's it for this chapter, like before please leave a review of what you liked or didn't like and I will see you Guys next chapter.**

**See ya.**

**Next chapter: the trials of Temen-ni-gru**


	7. The trials of Temen-Ni-Gru

**A/N: Hello one and all and AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! If you couldn't tell by the bloodcurdling scream I'm more than a little annoyed at how long this took for me to write given the contents of this chapter.**

**Remember in chapter 5 how I said that I got a bad case of the F #$-its while writing it, well imagine that but a hundred times worse. I had such a bad case of it this time that there were days where I would load up the document this is in and then spend the entire day writing one sentence, ONE. SENTENCE. Hopefully that never happens again but knowing me it probably will.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Devil may Cry or Tales of the Abyss **

The Trials of Temen-Ni-Gru

Up in the upper floors of Temen-Ni-Gru Mystearica quietly made her way through a large stone room with a single row of five columns in the center of the room. She held one of her pistols at the ready in case of a surprise attack.

As she reached the middle column several little grims suddenly appeared around her, all of them looking at her like a slab of meat.

"_Ooh what have we here? A lovely young lady in a demon tower?"_ one of the demons mocked her as they approached.

Mystearica just glared at the demon in question, her blue eyes beginning to resemble shards of ice in their intensity.

The demon in question leaped forward with its scythe raised high to swing down at the brunette. Mystearica gracefully sidestepped and put the barrel of her pistol to the demon's face, with a bang she pulled the trigger and reduced the little grim to dust.

As the first little grim turned to dust two other skeletons rushed forward, both attempting to swing down at the demon slayer. Mystearica turned her body slightly, letting the blades fall harmlessly to either side of her. Without missing a beat she jumped up and planted her feet on the poles of the scythes, twisting around to take her other pistol from its holster she took aim at both little grims simultaneously and fired at the two little grims.

The force of the bullets caused the little grims to fly back before turning to dust, accidentally jerking the scythes out of the ground. To avoid falling to the ground awkwardly, Mystearica jumped into the air, as the scythes came out of the ground.

Seeing their opportunity, three other little grims jumped towards Mystearica as she flipped through the air, seeing the attacking little grims the brunette quickly holstered her pistols as she took two throwing knives from under her arm warmers, all while in mid-air. As the first of the three little grims swung at Mystearica she twisted in mid-air to flip over the strike, and with both of her knives bisected the little grim down the middle. With the first little grim reduced to dust the remaining two little grims attempted mirrored horizontal slashes, Mystearica spun her body, passing in between the two blades. As they landed mystearica used her rotation to spin around and cut the two little grims in half, reducing them to dust.

Mystearica then began chanting under her breath as the remaining little grims attempted to swarm her. Then the brunette suddenly finished her incantation with a shout as the little grims neared her.

"Enclair De Larmes!" A glyph of light suddenly appeared around Mystearica, vaporizing the demons around her as they all turned to dust and blew away.

Mystearica took one last look around the room and resheathed her knives under her arm warmers and quietly walked further into the tower.

XXXX

Luke and Anise walked into the next room, still with sad looks on their face from their encounter with Guy.

The room they walked into was very spacious with a single walk way that extended across the room and split off halfway across, one path went to a large blue door and the other went into a wall.

In the middle of the walkway where it split off was a round platform with what looked like a laser in the center of the platform, at the base of the laser was a control panel with a large round indention at the top of it.

Walking up to the control panel Anise started floating around, carefully examining it.

"Why is there a big laser in the middle of the room?"

Luke took a curious look at the wall as the spirit took a closer look at the laser. "Maybe there's something behind the wall that we can get to with the laser?"

Before they could converse on it they both suddenly heard a voice echo through the room.

"Well this is interesting."

Luke quickly turned to face the voice with his hand on Flamberge's hilt.

"Easy, Easy I'm not here to fight." The voice turned out to belong to a tall man with long light brown hair and red eyes framed by a pair of glasses, a sure sign of demonic blood. He was wearing a brown coat with a red cape and brown boots and gloves making the man look like a fairy tale villain.

"Are you another guardian?" Luke asked wearily.

"I'm afraid not. My name is Jade Balfour, and I am the creator of Temen-Ni-Gru."

"What!?" Luke and Anise were definitely surprised to hear that.

"Hold on, this tower has been in the ground for over two thousand years, why would its own creator be trapped in it for all those years?" Luke asked with a skeptical look.

Jade thought for a second before speaking up again. "Could you please follow me?"

"Why should we follow you?" Anise asked cautiously.

"Because you want answers, but I will not give information to total strangers. If you want answers you must prove that you will not miss-use the information I have. Now follow me." And with that he turned and walked towards the door near the platform.

Luke and Anise shared a look before nodding and following after Jade.

The next room they entered was a large room with a single pathway that went up to three sets of stairs that led to large doorways. At the base of each staircase were podiums with small inscriptions on them. Jade turned to face them at the fork in the path.

"These are the trials of Temen-Ni-Gru. This is how you will prove your worth to me."

Luke looked around the room before looking towards Jade as a sign for him to continue.

"Behind me are three rooms, each with a different trial, for each trial you complete I will tell you a little more about this tower and why I built it, And if you can complete all three then I will give you something to help you move forward."

Luke found this a little odd.

"Hold on if you're the creator of this tower than why not just fight me directly rather than have me go through three trials?"

Jade got an almost amused look at that.

"Simple, you'd never survive." Jade said with a nonchalant tone.

Luke got irritated at that, though it wasn't the same kind of irritated that he got with someone like Dist since Luke had a sneaking suspicion that Jade was right.

"Alright I'll do the trials" Luke said with an exasperated sigh.

When he got to the top of the left staircase he turned to talk to Jade one last time.

"Jade, can I trust you enough to not do anything to Anise while I'm gone?"

"What, you think I would harm the young lady?" Jade asked with a smug smile.

"To be honest yes, you're the one who made this tower and I won't leave my partner with a total stranger." Luke said with a defiant tone in his voice, earning a smile from Anise.

Jade looked surprised for a second before chuckling lightly at the irony of Luke's statement.

"Very well you have my word that I will not harm her."

"Alright then, here I go." And with that Luke walked into the first trial.

XXXX

The room that Luke walked into next wasn't even a room at all, it looked like a pristine lake with a single mountain range far behind it. A single Sakura tree was planted on the bank of the lake as its petals slowly drifted onto the water's surface. Luke even felt a slight breeze drift by. The grass surrounding the lake was a brilliant shade of green that almost made Luke want to just rest for a bit.

Looking over towards the base of the Sakura tree Luke noticed three figures, two kids and one adult. On closer inspection Luke saw that the figures were younger versions of himself and Asch and their mother, apparently having a picnic.

Luke's younger self was dressed in a small white shirt with gold trim around the shoulders and black shorts. His hair, while still orange at its tip, only went to his shoulders instead of his waist like it does in the present.

Asch's younger self wore a similar shirt to Luke except that his shirt was black instead of white, Asch also wore black shorts. His hair like younger Luke's also only went to his shoulders.

Luke's mother was a beautiful woman with long flowing dark-red hair that pooled around her as she sat beneath the Sakura tree watching Luke and Asch chase each other around. She wore a beautiful green outfit that matched her eyes, which were a brilliant shade of Jade.

Luke could over hear his younger self and the younger Asch bantering to one another as they played.

"Come on Luke, you can do better than that." Young Asch teased as his little brother ran after him in an attempt to catch him.

"Hold still for a second and I'll show you what I can do." Young Luke said as he tackled Asch to the ground as they began to wrestle.

Their mother chuckled lightly under the Sakura tree. "That's enough now boys, come eat your food."

Luke and Asch both got a sheepish look on their face as they remembered where they were.

"Oh right, picnic." Luke said sheepishly as they made their way towards the tree.

"You forget dork." Asch teased.

"Shut it Asch!" Luke said back as he slapped his twins arm.

The older twin just chuckled as he shrugged off the slap, quickly running ahead towards the spot beneath the Sakura tree where their mother was.

When they reached the tree they both plopped down on the grass as their mother passed them both a sandwich.

Young Luke immediately chowed down as he took big bites of his sandwich, while young Asch was a bit more refined and took smaller bites.

Their mother chuckled as she watched Luke scarf down his sandwich. "How is it dear?"

Young Luke responded with a big grin. "Great."

Young Asch rolled his eyes at his twin's antics. "You're such a slob."

"You're one to talk, Mr. pudding-pop." Young Luke said with a mischievous smirk.

Young Asch immediately turned red at that. "Hey, you said you wouldn't bring that up again."

"Oh did I?" Young Luke teased.

Their mother chuckled lightly at that.

Young Asch turned beet red at that. "Mother it's not funny."

Young Luke and their mother just chuckled more at that as young Asch hung his head in embarrassment.

Luke found himself smiling at the scene, which he realized was an old memory from ten years back of when he, Asch, and their mother went on a picnic.

Suddenly the air received a red tint to it, as the world seemed to slow down around Luke.

Luke started looking around the area for the source of the air but when he looked over towards where his past self had been he saw that his younger self, the younger Asch, and their mother had been turned to stone.

Then a demonic voice suddenly echoed throughout the area.

"_**Son of Lorelei."**_

Luke turned to face the voice and what he saw made his jaw drop. Above the lake were three swirling masses of demonic energy that spiraled around each other.

"_**Look on, Son of Lorelei, for this is the fate that has befallen all you have ever known." **_

As the voice finished saying that, the young Luke and his family were suddenly turned to dust and were blown away with the wind.

Luke's eyes widened as he saw the dust float through the air, his breath getting caught in his throat as memories of the events that broke his family apart started rushing through his mind, his mother's murder, his father's sacrifice, and Asch's change from a kind if not snarky brother to his arch enemy.

"_**And this is the fate that will befall YOU." **_The three swirling masses of energy then began to descend towards Luke. As they got closer and closer Luke felt a sensation in his arm, when he looked down he was horrified to see that his arm was slowly melting.

"N-no, this isn't happening, it's just an illusion." But when he reached down to touch his arm to prove it he suddenly dropped to his knees when he felt blinding pain shoot through his arm, like someone had just scrapped something metal directly against his bone.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" The three masses of energy were getting closer to him, the pain in his arm growing stronger as they got closer.

"_**You will always know pain."**_ The voice mocked again.

Luke shut his eyes in an attempt to block out the words and the pain, small tears pricking the corners of his eyes because of the pain.

Suddenly he recalled a memory from when he was a child.

"_Luke, Luuuke." _

_A young Luke Fon Fabre sleepily opened his eyes to see his mother standing over him with an amused smile on her face, as she watched her son sleep beneath a tree in the back of their home._

"_Oh mother." The young Luke quickly sat up to talk with his mother._

"_Do you mind if I sit with you dear, this weather is gorgeous but also very hot." Luke's mother asked with a polite smile._

"_Sure." The young red-head responded with a smile._

_With that she quietly took a seat next to Luke beneath the tree._

"_Oh by the way dear, where is Asch?" His mother asked knowing full well that her sons were very rarely seen apart._

"_He's practicing with his sword down by the lake. I practiced with mine a little earlier so I didn't feel like going with him."_

"_I see, you both must like the birthday presents your father got for you." His mother said with a knowing smile._

_Luke instantly got excited when she said that. "Yeah they're awesome, with these swords me and Asch will be the most famous demon hunters ever." The young half-demon flexed his muscles to emphasize the point._

_His mother laughed at his antics with a small chuckle._

"_Well before you go demon hunting how about I give you your second present." And with that she reached into one of the pockets of her dress and pulled out a small ruby red jewel on a silver chain._

_Luke got an excited smile on his face as he stared at the bright red gem._

"_Cool." He took the gem from his mother's hand and put it around his neck._

"_But you have to promise me something Luke." His mother said with a rare stern look on her face._

"_Promise you what?" Luke asked with a confused look on his face._

"_Promise me that no matter what comes your way you won't give up." _

_Luke slightly gagged to himself. "Ugh that's so cheesy." _

"_Luke!" His mother said with a firm tone in her voice._

"_Okay, okay. I promise that no matter what happens I won't give up." Luke said with a forced but sincere look on his face._

"_Good." And with that she quietly yawned and sat back against the tree and slowly went to sleep. Luke quietly chuckled as he followed her example and went to sleep against the bark of the tree._

The swirling masses of energy were now almost on top of Luke when he suddenly shot out his arm into the space between the three masses and took a hold of a strangely humanoid neck.

The energy dispersed to reveal a grey-haired man with a toga wrapped around his waist.

"How did you break free of your pain?" The man asked confused and afraid.

"Maybe I understand my pain a little more than you think I do." Luke said confidently.

The man quickly broke out of Luke's hold and jumped back with an incredulous look on his face.

"Your pain is deep and vast, you should be wallowing in grief over what you've lost."

Luke got mad at hearing those words. "How I deal with my pain isn't up to you to decide." And with that Luke rushed forward with Flamberge and cut the man in half.

The man screamed before turning to dust and falling to the ground.

Luke looked down at his arm and saw that it was perfectly fine, proving that it had been an illusion, an incredibly vivid and convincing illusion, but still an illusion.

The air around the lake slowly turned back to a sky blue color as the world sped up to its usual speed.

Looking towards the sakura tree Luke saw his younger self with his family slowly packing up and leaving for home, His younger self and the younger Asch had begun bickering again as their mother walked behind them. Before they were out of sight their mother looked towards the other end of the lake and met Luke's gaze, Luke waved to her with a sad smile.

Before she could say anything the air began to distort until Luke found himself in the trial room which was a bland stone room with one doorway, the doorway Luke came in from.

XXXX

Luke walked back into the central area for the trials. Looking around Luke noticed that Jade and Anise were currently wrapped up in a conversation.

When Anise noticed Luke walking towards them she instantly floated over to him and quickly started checking him over for injuries.

"Luke, are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Luke just chuckled at her antics. "I'm fine Anise, the trial was kind of taxing but nothing I couldn't handle."

Anise let up after hearing that, a small smile on her face.

Jade walked up to them with a round of applause. "Well, well looks like I underestimated you."

Luke just gave him a serious look. "Alright Jade we had a deal, I completed one of the trials now tell me more about this tower."

Jade thought for a second before speaking. "Very well, I suppose the first thing you want to know is why I made Temen-Ni-Gru in the first place." Luke and Anise nodded at that.

"Well to put it bluntly I was curious." Jade shrugged.

Luke was confused by that since it seemed just so… casual.

"You were curious?"

Jade nodded slightly. "Yes, I was curious about what would happen if demons slowly became intertwined within the human world."

"Wait how could building this tower help you with that?" Anise asked confused.

"Simple, by opening the gate between the two worlds via Temen-Ni-Gru and then slowly leaking demons into the human world over the course of several hundred years it would allow humans to slowly adjust to the presence of demons." Jade asked with a patient tone.

"But someone got greedy." Luke followed up with, knowing where this story was going.

Jade nodded "The original plan for Temen-Ni-Gru was for it to be regulated, like an overpass, only a certain number of demons would be allowed to cross at any given time."

Luke and Anise both thought that over for a second before motioning for Jade to continue.

"However once the construction of the tower was complete an army of demons appeared to try and invade the human world."

"How big was the army?" Luke asked getting a sinking feeling from the story.

"About 80% of the underworld's population." Jade said with a grim look.

Anise got a horrified look on her face. "No way."

"But then a demon by the name of Lorelei rebelled against his own kind for the sake of the human race." Anise turned to see that Luke was the one explaining the story. "With his sword he shut the portal to the demonic realm and sealed the evil entities off from the human world."

Jade nodded "Once Lorelei sealed the portal to the underworld he placed four guardians inside Temen-Ni-Gru and then sealed it in the ground in order to prevent it from reopening."

"Guardians…" Luke gripped the handle for Shakunage weakly.

Jade took notice of Shakunage and got a sad look on his face. "I see, so you've met Gailardia."

"Gailardia, you mean Guy?" Anise asked.

"Guy? Is that what he called himself?"

"Did you know Guy?" Luke asked.

"Yes, but if you want to know how I know him you'll have to finish another trial." Jade said.

Luke sighed at that. "Alright, here I go." With that he started walking to the second trial.

XXXX

As Luke walked into the next trial he saw that he wasn't near any lake or in some stone trial room, instead he saw that he was in a forest of some kind with a thick layer of fog obscuring his vision.

Luke began walking further into the forest when a shadowy figure shot through the trees behind Luke. Luke jumped back and unsheathed Shakunage in one quick motion. Luke bent his knees and held his sword at shoulder height with the blade angled down as he waited for whatever was after him to make its move.

Suddenly the shadow came barreling towards Luke from above him. Luke quickly leaped to the side as the shadow crashed into the spot where Luke had just been. Luke reoriented himself in mid-air and landed on the trunk of a nearby tree, Luke looked up and managed to make out the outline of the shadow through the fog. With a burst of speed Luke kicked off the tree and shot towards the shadow with Shakunage in hand.

Luke swung Shakunage across his body as he neared the shadow. But before the attack could connect the shadow seemed to vanish into the fog avoiding the attack. Luke planted his feet on the ground in an attempt to stop his momentum as he skidded a few feet before coming to a stop.

Before Luke could react the shadow came from behind him and tackled him, knocking him off his feet.

Luke quickly got to his feet in time to sense the shadow curving around to try and attack him again, thinking quickly he turned and stabbed Shakunage behind where he was standing in attempt to strike at the shadow. The shadow veered to the side in attempt to avoid the stab, however it wasn't fast enough to avoid the full attack and still received a gash along its side from Luke's sword.

Luke quickly tried to swing at the shadow again but the shadow vanished into the fog again, avoiding the attack.

By this point Luke was getting fed up with both the battle and the low visibility, courtesy of the fog.

"_I have to get rid of this fog somehow, but I don't know any wind-"_before he could finish that thought his mind turned to the sword in his hand, more specifically the devil arm in his hand.

"_I forgot, a devil arm's abilities are based on the soul used to make it, so if Guy was proficient in wind and fire attacks then-" _Luke was suddenly brought out of his thoughts as the shadow came at him again, Luke rolled to the side as the shadow rushed past him.

"_Here goes nothing." _

Luke quickly took up a quick draw stance as he held Shakunage at his side as if he had it in a sheath and took a deep breath. Luke began to imagine sharp and powerful winds as he focused his energy into the blade of Shakunage.

Luke then felt the presence of the shadow running towards him again through the fog. Time seemed to slow down as Luke swung Shakunage in a wide arc, the blade seemingly surrounded by razor winds, with a deafening howl Shakunage let loose a small vortex around Luke, blowing the fog away and knocking the shadow away as well.

With the fog gone Luke could see the shadow clearly and saw that it resembled a large wolf with glowing yellow eyes and a slick silver coat.

The wolf locked eyes with Luke as if trying to size him up, Luke in turn brought up Shakunage into a fighting stance in preparation of the clash.

With a start the wolf shot for Luke in a burst of speed, Luke was prepared for the attack and put up his sword to block the charge. As the wolf collided with the blade of Shakunage Luke bent down and flung the wolf up and over his head. Without missing a beat Luke spiraled up into the air, a fire trail following him up as he cut across the wolf's body.

"Searing Gale!"

Once Luke reached the top of his jump he swung Shakunage down in front of him, effectively bisecting the wolf with a fiery slash.

Luke landed gracefully on his feet as the two halves of the wolf fell to the ground and were reduced to dust.

With the wolf defeated the forest quickly dissolved to reveal the stone trial room, Luke quickly sheathed Shakunage and walked back into the central chamber.

XXXX

As Luke walked into the central chamber he noticed Jade and Anise sitting in front of the exit door playing a game of chess with Anise telling Jade where to move her pieces and the brunette moving her pieces for her.

With one final move Jade placed his rook on one of the far corners of the board with finality.

"And that's checkmate."

Anise went bug-eyed at that and looked up and down the board in disbelief, when she realized he was right she got an irritated look on her face.

"I demand a rematch." Anise demanded, waving her arms comedically.

"Come on Anise don't be a sore loser." Luke teased as he walked up to them.

"Oh boo." The spirit said crossing her arms with a huff.

"She's quite the trooper, this is the fifth game we've played, but alas she just couldn't keep up with me." Jade said with a tone of fake humbleness.

"You really need to work on that narcissism of yours." Luke said with a deadpan tone to his voice.

"haha but Luke my narcissistic personality is one of my best traits." Jade replied in a fake whiny tone.

"uh-huh." Luke huffed not believing him for a second.

Jade then got a more serious look on his face "I suppose you want to know how I knew Gailardia."

Luke nodded slightly in confirmation.

"Gailardia was chosen as one of four demons who would act as guardians for Temen-Ni-Gru, he was chosen because his family was directly involved in the attempted invasion." Luke and Anise went wide-eyed at hearing that, before they could say anything Jade continued explaining. "As guardians their job is simply to stop anyone from raising this tower and activating the portal between worlds."

"Hold on if the guardians are here to stop anyone from using this tower then how could Asch raise this tower without fighting Guy?" Luke asked confused.

"I would surmise that he has an artifact that allows him to bypass the guardians entirely."

Luke wracked his brain for an artifact that Asch might have used to bypass the guardians but after a few minutes couldn't think of anything.

Seeing the dejected look on Luke's face Jade continued "Well regardless of what he used the fact of the matter is that he's already raised Temen-Ni-Gru and has the potential to open the portal, let's just hope that he can't open the portal right away."

Luke mulled over those words silently as Anise gave him a worried look.

Jade saw her worried look and decided to end the conversation with one last subject.

"Luke is there anything else you want to know before you finish the last trial?"

Luke just stayed silent as those words set in. There were a dozen more things he wanted to ask but he knew that Jade couldn't answer all of them nor did he have the time to. After a few seconds of silence Luke finally spoke up with a deep breath.

"How did my dad seal the portal to the demon world?"

Jade was shocked to hear that as Luke's final question. "May I ask why you want to know that?"

Luke took a second to gather his thoughts before answering "because if worse comes to worse I need to know how to seal the portal again."

Jade looked thoughtful at hearing that before speaking up. "You must be one of the most fascinating people I've ever met."

"What?" Luke asked confused.

"When I first met you I thought you were just a human who relied on luck to get as far as he did." Jade said bluntly. Luke deadpanned at that but Jade continued. "But you kept surprising me at every turn of the trials, you showed more concern for Anise than for yourself as YOU were leaving for the first trial, you managed to overcome the illusion of the first trial despite seeing your worst fears play out right in front of you." Luke was shocked to hear that Jade knew what the first trial had been for him. "You put up a brave face for Anise after the first trial even after seeing your past self and his family turn to dust, and in the second trial you showed quick-thinking and quick-reflexes in the middle of an intense battle, and even now you are preparing for the worst case scenario." Luke was surprised to hear Jade praise him so much.

"However while I applaud your determination and resolve I still believe that you are too naïve." Anise gawked at that. "What?!"

"Let me ask you something if sealing the portal involved losing everything that made you who you are would you still go through with it?" Jade asked Luke who had averted his eyes at the question with a grimace.

Anise sent Luke a worried look "Luke."

Jade suddenly began to explain the sealing process "In order to seal the portal to the demon world Lorelei first went to the depths of the sealed grounds, which were the lower levels of Temen-Ni-Gru, and offered up some of his own blood to act as a catalyst for the seal afterwards he used an ancient artifact to act as the "key" to the seal…"

Anise suddenly got very optimistic at hearing that. "Hey that's not so bad, all Luke has to do is cut himself a little bit and find that artifact and we can seal the portal."

Jade went quiet at that before continuing "And the last part, which would act as the lock for the seal, was the blood of a mortal priestess."

Luke and Anise went wide-eyed at that. "Wait then that means…" Anise began before turning to see that Luke was shaking. "I-I would have to k-kill someone."

"That's why I said you were naïve." Jade said bluntly.

Seeing the state Luke was in Jade continued "However that will not be necessary if you can stop them from opening the portal in the first place."

Luke took a second to process the words before taking a deep breath. "You're right I can't stand here shaking in my boots while Asch still hasn't opened the portal." Jade nodded in agreement and with that Luke turned and began walking towards the last trial.

"Good luck Luke." Anise called to him before he walked into the last trial.

XXXX

As Luke walked into the last trial he was shocked to see that the trial room hadn't triggered an illusionary environment the second he walked in the trial room. The room he walked into resembled the past trial rooms except that instead of just being a room it resembled more a chamber with a square platform suspended by eight pairs of chains one pair on each corner and side. A short walkway connected the platform and the door.

As Luke walked out onto the platform the walkway suddenly receded into back into the wall leaving Luke stranded on the platform.

Before Luke could ponder what happened a ghostly mirror appeared on the far wall of the chamber revealing the smug face of Jade and the smiling face of Anise.

"Jade, Anise what's going on how come I can see you up there?" Luke asked confused.

"_Just a basic vision spell, this last trial is a test of strength so we decided to take up front row seats for it." _Jade explained.

"_Hi down there Luke." _Anise called down from the mirror with a wave.

Luke just chuckled at her and waved back before turning to see a dozen little grims surrounding him. A smirk spread across his face as he unsheathed Flamberge from its sheath and held it out in front of himself.

"I'm a little disappointed Jade I mean this kind of thing is my specialty." Luke said confidently.

"_Don't get cocky now Luke, you know what happened to the hare."_ Jade warned lightly.

"Heh whatever you say Jade." And with that Luke rushed toward the mob of little grims with a burst of speed.

As Luke neared the first little grim he swung his sword in a wide arc as it attempted to swing down at him, reducing the skeleton to dust.

A second little grim attempted to strike at Luke with a horizontal swing, thinking quickly Luke ducked under swing before the little grim could bisect him, while Luke was crouching he spun around and sweep kicked at the little grims legs, knocking it off its feet and into the air. Before the little grim could land on the ground Luke rushed forward and jabbed the barrel of Ivory into its chest and pulled the trigger while twisting the gun as it fired, the force of the bullet combined with the rotation of Ivory caused the little grim to spiral backwards into the crowd of little grims before turning to dust.

Before the crowd could recover Luke rushed forward, and with a single horizontal swing cut through four little grims at once.

Another little grim attempted another swing at Luke, this time from above, Luke didn't even turn around as he put up Flamberge across his shoulders, as the blade of the scythe was blocked by Flamberge Luke the opportunity to push the little grim back and throw it off balance, without missing a beat Luke wheeled around and cut the little grim in half reducing it to dust.

The remaining little grims attempted to swarm Luke from all directions, but Luke just sheathed Flamberge and unsheathed Shakunage and took up a battle stance as the little grims drew closer, just as the little grims were on top of him Luke suddenly planted Shakunage into the ground in front of him and with a small spark created a flame tornado around himself that burned all the little grims to cinders, however one managed to live through it, with a flourish Luke took Sakunage out of the ground and swung it at the remaining little grim, Shakunage released a flurry of razor winds that cut the little grim to pieces.

As the ashes and dust settled around Luke the platform suddenly began to rock, knocking Luke off balance as another figure came onto the platform.

The figure that came onto the platform resembled a troll from a fantasy novel with an ugly wart-covered face and bulging muscles, in its hand was a large club . Each step the troll took shook the platform violently.

Luke just gave the troll a hard stare while trying to keep his balance.

"And I thought I was done here." Luke said under his breath.

"_Remember what I said about that hare." _Jade teased through the mirror.

Luke decided to just ignore Jade for the moment as he got into a battle stance with Shakunage.

The troll finally took notice of Luke and began running towards him the platform shaking more and more with each step. As it got close it jumped up and swung its club down towards Luke.

Luke rolled to the side to avoid the attack, and while he avoided the attack the force of the attack caused to entire platform to jolt, sending Luke into the air. The troll turned to swing at Luke again while he was in mid-air, changing his momentum in mid-air Luke managed to flip over the club as it passed under him.

As he landed the ogre wheeled its club around to swing at him again, Luke brought Shakunage up to try and block but the force of the attack still sent him backwards through the air. Reorienting himself in mid-air Luke managed to land on one of the chains that held the platform up.

Rushing forward the troll swung at Luke again, Luke jumped up and over the swing as the club broke the pair of chains holding the corner of the platform up causing the platform to tilt towards the missing chains, the tilt caused the troll to trip and fall towards the corner of the platform. Luke landed on the opposite of the troll, before he could fall back from the tilt he stuck Shakunage into the ground.

The troll managed to avoid falling over the edge by holding onto the stone railing, noticing this Luke took Shakunage out of the ground and ran forward towards the troll, as Luke neared the edge he jumped up and kicked the troll in the face causing it to lose its grip on the edge, before the troll fell off completely Luke pushed off of the troll and jumped back towards the center of the platform. The force of the kick caused the troll to lose its grip on the edge and fall, a few seconds later Luke heard a loud crash as the troll landed on the bottom floor.

Walking up to the edge Luke looked over the edge and managed to see a grey unmoving spot at the bottom of the chamber.

Luke heard a clicking sound and saw that the walkway had extended again signifying that the trial was over.

XXXX

Walking back into the main chamber Luke was swarmed by an excited Anise who was busy showering him in praises.

"Luke that was awesome you totally kicked their asses."

Luke just chuckled as Anise flew around his head excitedly.

Luke noticed Jade walk up with a red jewel in his hand. Once Jade got closer he tossed the red jewel to Luke who easily caught.

"What is this?" Luke asked confused.

"We had a deal right, if you completed all three trials I would give you something to help you move forward." Jade explained politely.

Luke gave the jewel a curious look before speaking "How do I use it?"

"Simple, just insert it into the control panel for the laser in the last room."

Luke got a curious look at that "Quick question why does an ancient tower have a laser in it anyway?"

"Because it matched the carpet." Jade answered jokingly.

Luke just sweat-dropped at that, knowing that he wasn't going to get a straight answer after that he decided to drop the subject.

Walking back into the room with the laser Luke walked up to the control panel and carefully placed the jewel into the indention.

With a surge of energy the laser fired and blew a hole in the side wall revealing a blue door.

"Cool." Said an impressed Anise.

Luke turned to Jade with a small smile on his face. "What are you going to do now Jade?"

"I'll just stay around this area since I would just slow you down otherwise." Jade answered honestly.

"Ahh you're not coming with us." Anise whined slightly.

"Sorry Anise but I'm just not cut out for this adventuring thing like you youngsters are my back starts hurting and my joints ache." Jade said jokingly.

"But talking seriously if I find out anything new I'll contact you via my magic." Jade offered.

Luke nodded at that. "Okay thanks Jade." And with that Luke and Anise made their way through the door.

Jade watched them slowly walk away as he thought to himself. _"Here's hoping they'll be alright." _

Jade was surprised at his own thoughts _"Am I actually concerned about another creature?"_

A small smirk started to appear on Jade's face _"You two really are fascinating."_

XXXX

Higher up the tower Mystearica was catching her breath on a bit of rubble as she reloaded her guns.

The area around her was open to the night sky as it was just a small balcony that connected two hallways, fallen columns lay strewn about the balcony in crumpled heaps, an eerie flag waved atop one of the columns that was not destroyed yet. Three steps led down towards the edge of the balcony that had no railing or edge to it.

Once Mystearica was well rested she got up and began to make her way towards the next door but before she could get far she heard a gruff voice behind her.

"Going somewhere." Mystearica whirled around to see a tall man in light brown clothes and with a face framed by light brown hair.

"Van." She said with venom in her voice as she aimed one of her pistols at him.

"Mystearica must you aim your gun at me, at your brother, have I really done something to deserve such hatred?"

Mystearica just glared at him "You know damn well what it is you've done." She spat.

Van gained a sorrowful look at that. "It is unfortunate that I must be the one to end your life Mystearica."

"Not if I end yours first." And with that she pulled the trigger with a bang, however Van wasn't standing there anymore.

Sensing him behind her Mystearica wheeled around to try and fire at him but he managed to catch her arm before she could aim. Reacting quickly she broke his arm bar and threw several kicks to try and push him back, however on her last kick Van grabbed her leg and kicked her other leg out, using the rotation to his advantage similar to how he fought with Luke he spun and threw her towards the wall.

Reorienting herself in mid-air she managed to stop herself from crashing into the wall however she felt several bones in her arms and legs pop from the impact.

Landing on her feet Mystearica looked up in time to see Van rushing for her with his arm cocked back for another punch, Mystearica managed to jump up the column and avoid the punch. While in mid-air she kicked out at Van and managed to get a good kick at his face, the force of the kick causing his lip to bleed and forced him to stagger back.

Landing on her feet again she quickly looked up and began firing at him again, He managed to avoid most of the bullets but he misjudged the trajectory of the last one and it managed to graze his cheek, leaving a thin trail of blood.

Seeing her chance Mystearica rushed forward to try and finish the fight, however before she could get very far Van stepped forward and slammed his fist into her stomach knocking the wind out of her and doubling her over in pain.

"c-curses.." She cursed weakly as her consciousness faded, her grip on her pistol not letting up.

Looking down at his fallen sister Van wore a sorrowful look on his face before reaching down and grabbing the collar of her shirt and dragging her over to the edge of the balcony.

"I'm sorry Mystearica, perhaps one day you will understand why I've made the choices I have."

Van then held her out over the edge as he let his grip weaken.

"Farewell, Mystearica."

And with that his grip loosened completely and she began to fall. Van stood there for a second as he watched the figure of his sister fade away down the length of the tower.

**A/N: CLIFFHANGER dun dun dun.**

**Will Tear make it out of this one? Will she ever actually meet Luke at this rate? And will I actually update this story at a reasonable rate? Tune in next time to find out.**

**Jokes aside this was an interesting chapter to write since the original mission in the game was composed of three bland gameplay trials, so I decided to spice it up a little bit and throw in some backstory. **

**Also Jade will be the last character I introduce that is not strictly a boss character. **

**Other than that please leave a review saying what you like or didn't like and I will see you guys next time.**

**See ya.**

**Next time: Fated encounter (this will be a big one)**


	8. Fated encounter

**A/N: Hello beautiful people.**

**And hey I actually got my shit together for writing this chapter. Anyways there's a LOT of stuff that happens in this chapter so be prepared it may get a touched cluttered with plot.**

**Also warning there is minor gore in this, but its really mild, so there's no lost limbs or decapitations or anything Mortal Kombat like.**

**Anywho, sit back and enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Devil May Cry or Tales of the Abyss (though when I eventually rule the world that will be the first thing that changes)**

Fated encounter

The next room Luke and Anise walked into wasn't even a room at all it was just a high ceiling hallway that went up and around to connect to another door, near the second door the hallway let out into a small balcony that looked like it was deteriorating with bits of rubble strewn about all over the place and no railing near the edge.

When Luke came up to the balcony he found himself walking out into the night air. Luke got a Melancholic look on his face as he looked down at the city from his spot on the tower.

Anise saw his face and got curious "Is something wrong Luke?"

Luke just shook his head "Nah just remembering something my mother used to tell me."

"What did she say?" Anise asked.

"She is used to say-" before Luke could finish he heard a pistol land a few feet from him on the balcony, looking up Luke noticed a figure falling from near the top of the tower, thinking quickly Luke rushed forward and managed to grab the person's hand before they fell past.

As Luke was hanging over the edge he noticed that the person he caught was the woman from the entrance. Luke pulled the woman up onto the balcony and laid her down next to a fallen column away from the edge.

XXXX

_A teenage Mystearica lay under a large oak tree atop a grassy hill as the autumn season caused the orange leaves to fall from the tree's branches._

_The teenage Mystearica wore a pair of light blue jeans with a light blue blouse. Her chest slowly rose and fell as she slept._

"_Someone's comfortable." Mystearica's eyes fluttered open as she saw a girl with golden blond hair with a light brown hair-band framing a pair of emerald eyes, the girl wore a pair of blue jeans and a green blouse with a blue center stripe with six intersecting white lines, the blouse showed a good amount of her cleavage but nothing scandalous, the girl also wore a pair of long white gloves making her look like royalty._

"_Oh Natalia, what are you doing here?" Mystearica asked as she sat up._

_Natalia smiled softly "I came to look for you." The blond said as she took a seat next to Mystearica._

"_Van was wondering where you were so I decided to look for you, figures I would have found you here of all places." Natalia answered light-heartedly._

_Mystearica returned the smile before replying "Of course I'd be here, you know I like watching flower fields." At that both of them turned to look at the open field before them which was filled with Lilacs as far as the eye can see, a light breeze carrying orange leaves over the field._

"_It looks so romantic." Natalia said with a calm look in her eyes._

"_More romantic than a fantasy novel?" Mystearica teased lightly._

_Instead of getting indignant at that Natalia got dreamy look in her eyes as she closed her eyes and thought of all the fantasy novels that she likes to read "Oh if only, dashing princes, swords and sorcery, noble thieves it's all so magical." _

_Mystearica chuckled a little at her friend antics._

_Natalia turned to Mystearica with a small smile. "Hey, Hey wake up." _

_Mystearica got a confused look at her friend's words._

"_Hey, Hey-" Suddenly the scene dissolved into a flash of white._

XXXX

Luke was kneeling next to the mysterious woman when she began to stir. "Hey are you okay?"

The woman slowly opened her eyes to reveal a pair of azure blue eyes. "mmm Where am-" before she could finish her question she remembered her battle with her brother.

"Van!" she tried to get up but stopped when a sharp pain shot through her chest.

Luke quickly put his hands on her shoulders to keep her from getting up. "Hey, don't move so suddenly you're still pretty beat up."

The woman seemed to finally take notice of Luke as she scanned him with her eyes. "You, you're the one from the entrance."

"Good to know you remember the people you attack out of the blue." Luke said with a bit of a bite to his tone.

The woman hung her head for a second at that. "I apologize for my rash actions."

Luke just waved her off with a nonchalant look on his face. "Don't worry about it, besides I'm not one to hold a grudge."

The woman relaxed a little at that as the two sat in silence for a few moments before the woman spoke up. "Were you the one who saved me?"

Luke nodded in response "Yeah that was me, oh that reminds me is this yours?" Luke turned around and pulled out a slick black pistol. He held it out to the brunette, making sure to keep his finger off the trigger.

The woman nodded slightly as she carefully reached for it, after all it wouldn't be good if she accidentally shot her savior or herself. "Yes it's mine, thank you, for this and for saving me."

Luke nervously rubbed the back of his head at the thank you. "Don't mention it, it was nothing."

The woman put her pistol in its holster as Luke spoke up again. "So what happened to you?" He asked curiously.

The woman was quiet for a moment as she mulled the question over in her head for a moment. "I fought with someone, but I lost." The brunette then slowly rose to her feet. "Thank you for saving me but I must be going."

"Wait a sec you're still really beat up from your last fight you shouldn't be moving." Luke warned as he saw the brunette rise to her feet.

"Don't worry I'll be fine." And with that she took a deep breath as a white colored glyph appeared beneath her feet, after a second a white light appeared around her as she felt her wounds disappear with the warm light.

Luke stood there with a shocked expression on his face as the light faded. "You know healing artes?" Luke asked incredulous.

The woman nodded slightly at the question, a very faint smirk tugging at her face at the sight of Luke's reaction.

Before either of them could say anything else a little grim suddenly dropped down behind Luke and raised its scythe to try and attack him.

Before the little grim could do anything Luke wheeled around and shot a bullet through the little grim's skull, reducing it to dust.

Luke turned back to the mysterious woman with a sheepish look on his face. "Sorry about that, reflex."

The brunette smiled slightly at that, but her eyes widened when she saw the red tint in Luke's eyes. Without thinking she jumped back and aimed one of her pistols at him.

Luke stepped back in shock as he starred down the barrel of the Mysterious woman's pistol. "What are you doing?"

The woman kept her pistol poised on Luke. "Your eyes just now, are you… a demon?"

Luke hung his head at that, not wanting to meet her glare. "Yeah, I am."

"I see." She tightened her grip on her pistol. "Then you must know what comes next."

Luke didn't move as a heavy silence fell over the two as they locked gazes with one another.

But before the woman could pull the trigger Anise suddenly appeared in front of her. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

Not expecting a ghost to suddenly appear in front of her the woman scrambled back in surprise. "Wha-" not watching where she was stepping the woman began to fall back off the edge of the balcony. Luke rushed forward to try and catch her but before he could reach her she aimed her pistol and fired a bullet into Luke's forehead, causing him to fall back.

Thinking quickly the woman unsheathed two knives from under her arm warmers and plunged them into the side of the tower to slow her descent, eventually coming to stop partway down the tower.

Looking up towards where Luke was the woman didn't see any movement for a moment. Just as she was beginning to worry that she might have made a mistake she saw Luke look down at her from the balcony, a thin trail of blood coming from his forehead. "What the hell was that for you jerk!?" The woman could tell that Luke was more angry than hurt by his wound, only serving to prove that he was indeed a demon.

After a minute of glaring at her Luke huffed and began walking away. "Fine, do as you please, just try not to get yourself killed."

The woman just hung her head as he walked away. "So he really is a demon."

As Luke walked back into the hallway Anise slowly floated towards him. "Luke, are you okay? I'm sorry, if I didn't spook her she might not have shot you."

Luke just smiled softly as she kept her head down in apology. "Don't be silly, judging by how she was acting she would have attacked me either way."

Anise still looked sad as he said that. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I mean I'm a little sad that she attacked me after we finally had the chance to talk but what's done is done, right." Luke said with a sad smile on his face, the bullet wound on his forehead having closed up.

"But that's not right. Who cares if you're a demon, you saved her life." Anise shouted indignantly.

Luke just gave her a sad chuckle at that. "It's a bit more complicated than that, Anise."

"Anyway we should get going." Luke said as he began walking to the door, Anise following closely behind him.

XXXX

The next room Luke and Anise walked into was simply a spiral stair-case that seemed to stretch to the top of the tower, Luke let out a small whistle as he looked towards the top of the stairs.

As Luke began walking up the stairs he heard Anise speak up behind him. "Hey um, Luke Can I ask you something?" The spirit asked meekly.

"Sure." Luke answered concerned.

Anise took a second to gather her words before asking. "Why do you and Asch hate each other?"

Luke got a solemn look on his face as he let the question settle in. "Are you sure you want to know? It's a pretty long story."

Anise gave a slight nod in response.

Luke sighed lightly. "Alright, I'll tell you." And with that Luke began to tell his story.

_(Nine years ago)_

_A young Luke fon fabre, along with his twin brother and mother, was seen walking out of a Movie theater in the dead of night, the glow from the street lights being the only source of light in the area. The young half-breed ran ahead excitedly while talking about the movie they had just seen. _

"_Did you see how he was swinging through that city, so Cool. And how he was holding up that cable-car off the bridge." _

_Asch just rolled his eyes as his twin continued to rant about the movie. "The movie wasn't that great." _

_Instead of pouting like usual, Luke just got a mischievous grin on his face. "You thought it was pretty good when that redhead came on screen." _

_Asch turned beet red at the accusation as he turned his head away to hide his blush. "S-shut it." _

_Their mother chuckled at her sons' antics. "I'm guessing you two liked the movie."_

"_It was fine." "It was great!" The twins responded._

"_Well well, what do we have here?" A slimy sounding voice rang through the streets as a fat man with a square shaped head in a business suit walked out of the shadows into the light of the lamp posts._

"_Tell me woman how does it feel to make love to a devil?" The man mocked. _

_Instead of responding Luke's mother simply glared at the man with an almost demonic look. "Is there a point to this chat other than to make me angry?" _

"_As a matter of fact there is." With a snap of his fingers a small mob of thugs came from out of the nearby alleyways, some wielding lead pipes or 2x4s._

"_Suzanne Fon Fabre, I hereby pass judgement upon you for your crimes against humanity!" _

"_And what, pray tell, are my crimes exactly?" Suzanne replied with venom._

_The man gave a hard look in response. "For conspiring with the lord of demons and for spawning two demonic chil-KWAAA!" before he could finish his accusations Suzanne had sent him flying with a powerful roundhouse kick._

"_Mock me all you want, but if you mock my sons I WILL kill you." The death glare Suzanne sent to the gathered henchman caused many of them to fidget in fear as it just dawned on them that they were fighting with a woman who was comparable to the lord of demons._

_One of the thugs attempted to attack her from behind with a lead pipe, before he could finish his swing Suzanne grabbed the pipe and pulled, making the mook lose his balance as he stumbled towards her, not wasting a second Suzanne brought her arm across the lackey's face in a fierce backfist sending the thug sprawling to the side with a skid._

_Sensing someone else behind her Suzanne dropped into a horse-running stance_**(1)**_ and drove her elbow into the rib-cage of the mook with a satisfying crack, causing the poor henchman to fly back._

_The mook flew passed one of his buddies who had turned his head to check on his friend, when he turned his head back Suzanne was already in his face, with a powerful uppercut the mook was knocked off his feet and into the air, with a powerful step forward Suzanne slammed her palm into his chest breaking several ribs in the process and sending him back several feet._

_Two more thugs attempted to double team Suzanne with lead pipes, reacting quickly Suzanne grabbed the steel pipe one of the mooks were holding and flung the mook into his buddy, the poor lackey tightening his grip on the pipe in panic, with a quick motion she took the pipe from the hapless minion and with a quick spin struck both of them across the face._

_As the two thugs dropped to the ground many of the remaining mooks ran in fear of the Red-headed mother._

_The fat man from before stirred into consciousness as he caught sight of Suzanne taking down more of his henchmen. The man grit his teeth in anger as he reached for the pistol beneath his suit, with a shaky hand he took aim at Suzanne who had beaten down two more thugs. "All traitors to humanity must be punished, this woman has escaped the will of god for far too long."_

_Luke had been in awe of his mother's graceful form as she beat down one thug after another, as he was watching his mother Luke caught sight of the metallic shine of a pistol being held by the fat man who had antagonized his mother, Luke's eyes widened when he realized that the pistol was being aimed at his mother who had her back turned to the man._

"_MOM, WATCH OUT!" _

_Suzanne quickly turned to where Luke was looking in time to see the fat man from before pull the trigger with a thunderous bang._

_The bullet sank into Suzanne's chest as she fell back onto the cold ground, the few thugs left dared not move as silence fell over the street._

_Luke and Asch were motionless for a moment as they watched their mother fall back onto the pavement, in a second the twins had both run to their mother's side._

"_Mom!" "Mother!" _

_Suzanne was breathing heavily as her sons dropped down on opposite sides of her._

"_Mom, are you okay?" Luke asked concern evident on his face, Asch remained silent as he watched his mother try to get her breathing under control._

"_Luke, Asch, get out of here, go." Suzanne ordered between ragid breathes._

"_Mom we're not leaving you!" Luke said back._

_Suzanne got a panicked look on her face at that. "This isn't up for discussion- *cough**cough*" _

_Luke quickly grabbed a hold of her hand as she coughed up bloody phlegm. "Mom hang in there."_

_Asch just stayed motionless for a second as Luke tried to stem the blood-flow from her wound._

"_Mother." The elder twin said in a whisper, almost in disbelief at the state his mother was in, demonic energy beginning to swirl around him, the remaining thugs took notice of this and quickly turned and ran away._

_The rain had begun to fall as a manic laugh began to sound through the night air._

"_Heh haha HAHAHAHAHA, I've done it. I, Mohs, have finally done it. Finally the traitor has received her proper punishment in accordance to the will of god."_

_Luke was too busy tending to his mother to hear the maniac words of Mohs, but Asch heard every deranged word._

"_You… YOU BASTARD!" Asch shouted as his demonic energy kicked up a small whirlwind and his eyes became blood red slits._

_Luke covered his wounded mother from the whirlwind as best he could as Asch shot forward with blinding speed._

_In a flash Asch had slammed his fist into Mohs face with a sickening crunch as he felt the man's skull crack, the force of the blow sent Mohs flying through the air at an incredible speed, rushing forward Asch grabbed a hold of Mohs' fat leg and slammed him down onto the pavement while hearing the snap of Mohs' spine from the impact. Without missing a beat Asch had climbed on top of Mohs and proceeded to barrage him with a flurry of punches, each punch breaking a different bone in the man's face. For his final move Asch pulled his hand back before plunging it into Mohs' chest, leaving a gaping hole where his heart had once been, the manic smile still on Mohs' face as blood dripped down his lip._

_Pulling out his arm from Mohs' chest, Asch shakily rose to his feet as tears fell down his face, with no further release for his emotions Asch threw his head back and let out an ear-shattering yell._

"_AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" _

_Asch felt a hand grab his shoulder, turning quickly Asch expected to see one of the lackeys from before but instead he looked into the golden eyes of his father, Lorelei._

"_F-father." Asch said weakly, tears still brimming his eyes as they returned to normal._

"_Asch, you've done enough." Lorelei said in a calming tone._

"_I've already called an ambulance, so they should be arriving- now." As he finished the sirens of police and an ambulance could be heard coming closer._

_Asch turned to look over to where Luke and his mother were before rushing to their side. Lorelei watched his family from a distance with a sad look in his eyes._

_Asch dropped to his knees when he got to his mother's side as Luke continued to apply pressure to her wound._

"_Asch, are you okay?" Suzanne asked him weakly._

"_Yeah I'm fine, mother." Asch said as he clutched his mother's hand with his un-bloodied hand._

_Before they could say anymore paramedics rushed over to carefully put Suzanne onto a stretcher, and loaded her into the ambulance with Luke and Asch jumping in after her._

_(At the hospital)_

_Luke's eyes held almost no life as he sat outside the E.R., his hands clasped together as he trembled slightly._

_Asch wasn't much better off as he sat in front of the door to the E.R. silently, occasionally looking up to see if the light on the sign had changed. He had since rinsed his hand of Mohs' blood since they reached the hospital._

_They both heard the sounds of footsteps from down the hall. Luke looked up from his seat to see his father walking towards them. "Dad…" _

_Lorelei gave them a sad look as he approached them. "How long have you two been waiting here?" _

_Luke took a deep breath before answering. "Practically since we got here." _

"_I see." Lorelei looked down at the ground not knowing how to comfort his sons._

_Luke continued to look down at the ground with a lifeless stare. "Hey dad, will mom be okay?" _

_Lorelei didn't have it in him to look at his son after hearing such a question. "I don't know." _

_Luke's shaking got more prominent as those words settled in. Lorelei seeing this took a seat next Luke and put a hand on his head, Luke just leaned into his father's embrace as his shaking continued._

_Suddenly the light above the E.R. dimmed as the doctor walked out into the hallway. "Is she going to be okay?" Luke asked as he and Asch rushed up to the doctor._

"_I'm sorry boys, but there was a complication. While we were able to stop the bleeding and stitch up her wound, the bullet she was hit with was coated in a fast-acting poison that's killing her white blood cells at an alarming rate, unfortunately we don't have the antidote on hand and by the time we get a hold of a batch it will have been too late." The doctor explained._

_Luke started trembling again, not believing what he was hearing. _

"_How long does she have?" Lorelei asked, stepping forward._

"_20 minutes." The doctor replied simply._

"_What room is she in?!" Asch asked frantically._

"_Room 104 past the corner." The doctor said as he pointed down the hallway._

_Luke and Asch quickly ran down the hall towards her room._

_XXXX_

_Luke and Asch eventually came across the right room. "Mom!" Luke shouted as he threw the door open._

_The hospital room was a bright shade of white with transparent curtains framing the window, the only things in the room were a small nightstand with a small vase of flowers and a single hospital bed. In said hospital bed was their mother looking out the window before turning her head to look at Luke and Asch and giving them a warm smile._

_The two half-demons rushed to their mother's side. "Mom we…" Luke trailed off not knowing what to say._

_Suzanne hung her head as she realized what they had found. "I suppose you two found out."_

_Luke started shaking again as tears brimmed the edges of his eyes. "Are-are you really going to die?" _

_Suzanne gave a sad smile at that. "I'm afraid so dear."_

_Asch started shaking as he clenched his fists at his sides. "Those damn humans! This is all their fault! They've all turned against us!" _

_Suzanne shook her head slightly. "Asch you mustn't think like that, not all humans are against us." _

"_But you heard that guy, all of humanity is against us." Asch said back._

_Suzanne got a serious look on her face "Asch, Luke, please listen to me, not all humans are like those men, they can be kind and compassionate and create so many wonderful things. What that man said and did tonight does not reflect what other humans think or feel. Do you two understand?" _

_Luke looked unsure for a second. "I-I think so." Asch just grit his teeth. _

_Suzanne's expression softened as she felt the feeling in her body slip away. "Asch, Luke, you have both grown so much."_

_Luke was confused for a second before his eyes widened when he realized what was coming. "Mom you're…" Luke reached forward and clasped her hand in his, All Asch could do was hide his eyes behind his bangs with a solemn expression on his face._

"_I'm so happy that I could be your mother." At this point tears had begun to fall down her cheeks as she felt her body begin to shut down. _

"_Never forget that you two are my… most… precious…" With her final breath her eyes closed for one final time as her grip went limp in Luke's hand. _

_Tears were flowing freely from luke's eyes as he felt his mother fade away. "Mom… MOM!" Luke rushed forward but before he could reach her he felt Asch pulling him back away from the bed._

"_MOM! Let me go, Asch! Mom!" Luke shouted desperately._

"_Luke, that's enough, it's too late! She's gone!" Asch said trying to calm his twin down._

_Luke wheeled around to glare at his brother but when he turned he saw thin trails of tears flowing down Asch's face, that sight alone was enough to get Luke to stop struggling as nurses rushed into the room. _

_Luke couldn't find it in himself to do anything but cry as he dropped his head until it nestled against the marble floor, his shoulders trembling violently from his sobs. _

_Lorelei walked into the room with the nurses, upon seeing his wife's lifeless body he quietly walked over to her and placed his hand on her cheek with a solemn look on his face. "Good night, Suzanne."_

_Lorelei then turned and kneeled down next to his youngest son and put his hand on Luke's shoulder as Luke leaned into his father. _

"After that we did our best to go on, but it was obvious that we were never quite the same. I found myself laughing less often even when I wanted to, Asch started smiling less and less until he eventually stopped smiling all together."

"But I think it was dad who took it the hardest, every time I saw him he just seemed so... empty, every expression he made seemed lifeless compared to before."

"Two years after mom's death dad just vanished, almost like he was never there to begin with. Asch thought he ran away but I think he just couldn't take the loneliness anymore."

"After dad left something changed between me and Asch, it seemed like we were both slowly coming to terms with things. I was hoping for things to get better so badly that I didn't notice the signs of Asch growing colder and crueler until three years ago."

"_Asch!" A 16 year Luke shouted in his white pants and red & black vest as he stood atop a tall building as the heavy rain poured around him. The roof had very little on top of it except for a bill board next to where Asch was standing and a steam pipe. _

_Across the roof was Luke's twin brother Asch, donned in his black armor, who currently had his back to him as he stared out at the city._

"_Asch, what were you thinking?! Do you realize how many people you almost killed?!" Luke shouted._

_Asch was silent as the rain continued to pour around them. Luke started to get impatient with his silence. "Say something you-"_

"_Tell me Luke, even if I had killed them would it have changed anything?" Asch interrupted not even bothering to turn around._

_Luke was confused by the confused by the question. "What?" _

"_Would my actions have changed anything for the worst? Would there eventual deaths be any different had I done nothing?" Asch asked quizzically._

"_What are you talking about, Asch?!" _

"_Humans are a weak race, whether it be physically or in terms of will. They are fragile beings who take their inherent weakness out on each other in an attempt to make up for that weakness." Asch said as he turned to face his twin._

"_That's some arrogance of yours Asch, Not all humans are weak, not everyone is cruel or violent,." Luke bit back._

"_That's true, not all humans are inherently selfish or cruel, but there are does who are. And those that are victimize and slaughter does that aren't, such is the weakness of humans."_

_Luke grit his teeth at that. "Then what about our mother?! Isn't she human?!" _

"_WAS human." Asch answered dispassionately. _

_Luke flinched at that._

"_You're right our mother was human, and not only was she human but she was kind and compassionate as well as a powerful fighter. But that didn't change her fate did it?" _

_Luke's glare intensified at that._

"_Despite being all of those wonderful things an evil human still put a bounty on her head in an act of hate disguised as justice, and because of our weakness as part-humans she lost her life."_

_Luke bit his lip as he suddenly couldn't look his brother in the eye._

"_That is why I must become stronger, So that I can protect what little I have left, I will not allow my human weakness to cost me anymore. And if I must become a monster to achieve that then so be it."_

_With that Asch unsheathed the Vorpal sword and held out in front of him as he stared Luke down, the heavy rain continuing to pour around them. "If you insist on standing in my way then you are my enemy."_

_Luke just hung his head as his eyes became obscured by his bangs. "Asch, I never thought you could go this far. Fine." And with that Luke unsheathed Flamberge with a flourish._

"_If you intend to sacrifice innocent people for your delusion of power then as your brother I WILL stop you." _

"_Good, now come, Luke!"_

_And with that they rushed forward as the rain continued to pour around them._

"I was able to beat him but I didn't have it in me to kill him, and now that decision is coming back to haunt me." Luke said as he concluded his story.

"Luke…" Anise mumbled as she wiped away her transparent tears that had accumulated from hearing Luke's story.

"That's why I have to fight him because no one else can." Luke said with finality.

Anise wiped away the last of her tears as the two reached the top of the stair-case, a large steel door spikes stuck to the front of the door in a tight circle.

"Luke." Anise mumbled timidly.

"Hmm."

"Thank you for telling me your story, I think I understand you a little better now." Anise said with a small smile on her face.

Luke just smiled back as he opened the door and stepped out into the night air once more.

Luke and Anise walked out onto an elevated pathway that was open to the sky while still being connected to the tower with several gothic style arches, a demonic flag hung on each arch as the full moon was visible from the pathway.

Luke came to the edge to peer down at the city from his spot on the tower as he began to stroke his amulet that was still hanging around his neck.

"Anise can you promise me something?" Anise looked up from staring down at the city when she heard Luke address her.

"Sure, what is it?"

"I want you to promise me that no matter what happens as I'm fighting Asch you won't interfere." Luke said with a serious look on his face.

"What?!" Anise gawked in disbelief.

"Don't get me wrong it's not that I don't think you can help, but this is my family matter to deal with, I have to defeat him on my own."

"Well yeah, but…" Anise said miserably.

"And more than that, I want to prove he was wrong about humans." Anise eyes widened when she saw look Luke turn to her with a warm smile, the glow of the full moon shining around him.

"So can you promise me?"

Anise looked down for a second with a thoughtful look on her face. "Okay, I promise."

"Thank you." Luke said with a nod. And with that Luke walked through the next door.

XXXX

Anise became invisible as Luke walked out onto a wide slope that spiraled around the tower until it reached the top of the tower. The rain had begun to fall as Luke quietly made his way up the slope until he reached a small stair-case.

The top of the tower was surrounded by large serpent statues inter-placed with large angel statues. Across the way from where Luke was walking up, stood Luke's twin brother Asch.

The eldest son had his back to Luke as he stared at the full moon, which almost seemed to cover the sky from the top of the tower.

"You showed up, Luke." Asch said as he turned to face his twin who had a small smirk playing his face.

"You really know how to make an entrance, don't you Asch. First you send your lackey to give me an "Invitation", than you come jutting out of the ground on top of some demonic tower."

Asch's expression didn't change but Luke noticed a malicious glint in his eyes. "Well what can I say, it's not every day that I can "play" with my little brother, I had to make the occasion memorable."

Luke began pacing around the area, knowing Asch wouldn't surprise attack him before the fight began. "Heh, whatever, anyway it's been three years since we last met, how about a kiss from your little brother or better yet how about a kiss from this?" With a twirl of his hand Luke took Ivory out of its holster and aimed it at Asch as lightning roared around them.

"So this is what they call a heart-warming family reunion."

Asch placed his hand on the hilt of the vorpal sword as he continued to stare Luke down. "You got that right."

With a tug Asch began to unsheathe his sword before vanishing from sight. Luke foreseeing this quickly unsheathed Flamberge from its sheathe as he managed to block all of the instantaneous sword slashes that appeared around him, as the last slash dissipated Luke spun on his heel and aimed Ivory in between Asch's eyes as he reappeared just as the eldest twin put his sword to Luke's throat putting them in a temporary deadlock.

The brothers continued to stare each other down almost as if they were guessing what the other would do next.

Without saying a word they both flash-stepped away before clashing again in a flurry of swords and sparks, the two continuing to trade blows as the lightening roared once more.

Above, below, center, below, above, center, their swords continuing to clash again and again as the two brothers began to resemble mirror images.

With a start Luke broke the cycle of blows as he ducked under a horizontal strike with a spin as he fired an arc of bullets at Asch's feet, Asch jumped high above the spray of bullets, reorienting himself in mid-air Asch flew into a dive kick which Luke managed to block with the flat of his blade.

Pushing back Luke managed to throw Asch off his sword, but while airborne Asch reoriented himself and quickly sheathed his sword again before unsheathing it in a quick-draw style, the slash caused a distortion to appear around Luke, reacting quickly Luke holstered Ivory and with a spin deflected all of the distortion slashes with Flamberge.

Asch landed back on the ground with a roll before back-flipping high into the air as he landed atop one of the serpent statues. Asch couldn't help a small smirk from appearing on his face as he looked down on Luke from his perch on the statue.

"Not bad Luke, it's seems your skills haven't worsened over the past three years."

Luke returned the smirk before replying. "I knew I would have to fight you again, so I made sure to keep myself in top shape."

"Of course you would, but it seems you've neglected to learn any new tricks either." Asch said ominously before pulling his hand back as a magic glyph appeared under his feet.

Luke's eyes widened as he saw the magic glyph appear below Asch's feet. "Magic?!" Thinking quickly Luke tried to stop Asch's casting with a well aimed bullet from Ebony, but before he could pull the trigger Asch began chanting.

"Oh darkened storm clouds, loose thy blade and run my enemies through! Behold my power! Thunder blade!" Asch shouted as he raised his hand to the sky.

With a deafening roar a bolt of lightning came through the storm clouds over head before shaping into the form of a sword as it came hurtling toward Luke.

Luke managed to avoid the initial plunge by diving to the side, when the sword let out an electrical shockwave he leaped high into the sky as the air beneath him became charged with electricity.

As Luke touched down on the floor again a sudden chill swept passed him as ice suddenly began to form around him.

"Rest in a silver embrace, Absolute!" Asch shouted as he raised his hand once more as a large pillar of ice appeared in the center of the platform where Luke had been standing. The pillar of ice took up the entire top of the tower as the heavy rain continued to fall.

All was silent as Asch stared down at the area where his brother had once been before the pillar of ice began to defrost into steam from an unknown source. As the pillar of ice disappeared Asch looked into the steam to see the faint outline of his brother holding a weapon that he had not seen before.

There in the rapidly disappearing steam stood Luke holding Shakunage in a reverse grip as a ribbon of fire flew around him, the orb on Shakunage's hilt glowing a bright red hue.

Asch gave a surprised look as Luke just gave him a confident smirk. "What was that about me not learning any new tricks."

Asch merely placed his hand on the blade of the Vorpal sword as he held it in front of himself. "Don't get cocky Luke."

With that he began casting again. "Oh ravaging winds come forth. Air thrust!"

As a dome of wind blades appeared around Luke he slashed Shakunage around him in a quick spin as the wind blades became concentrated around Luke's sword. Holding Shakunage in a low stance Luke swung it in Asch's direction sending a series of razor winds at his twin causing his brother to leap back down to the floor.

Seeing his twin leap down to the ground Luke quickly switched back to Flamberge as he flash-stepped to behind where Asch was about to land. As Asch touched down again he quickly spun on his heel as he clashed swords with Luke once more.

Ducking down Luke took a swipe at Asch's feet causing him to jump up again. Not missing a beat Luke took Ebony from its holster and fired three shots at the airborne Asch, reacting quickly Asch managed to deflect the bullets with the flat of his sword, with a start Luke jumped up after Asch as he clashed swords with him again.

Shifting his weight around as he locked swords with Luke Asch managed to propel himself straight down towards the floor with a slight crouch to break his fall. Upon seeing Asch land again Luke unsheathed Shakunage as he used the surrounding wind to dive at his brother, a trail of razor winds following behind him.

Asch managed to avoid his brother's attack by rolling to the side, turning on his heel Luke swung Shakunage up in a vertical arc, a spark forming as the blade grazed along the ground, manipulating the fire from the spark Luke sent a small heat wave at Asch who managed to blow the flames away with a swipe of his sword.

As the flames blew away Luke rushed forward with Flamberge in hand as they clashed swords again.

In another flurry of sparks and swords the two half-demons began trading blow for blow. With a start Luke blocked another attack before counter-attacking with a quick spin kick that clocked Asch upside his head, Asch spun with the blow and with a powerful step forward slammed his palm into Luke chest causing him to fly back.

Luke landed with a roll before taking Ivory from its holster and firing a few rounds in retaliation, as the bullets came flying towards him Asch began spinning the Vorpal sword around in a circle as he managed to actually stop and catch the bullets with his sword, laying the bullets on the ground next to him with his sword he quickly knocked them back towards Luke with the flat of his blade. Luke recovered quickly and managed to swing his sword in a downward strike, cutting the bullets in half as the pieces burst behind him.

The two brothers just stared each other down as the heavy rain continued to pour around, Asch's hair having fallen in front of his eyes due to the downpour.

"Why do you refuse to gain power? The power given to us by our birthright as the sons of Lorelei." Asch asked.

Luke just gave him a defiant smirk. "Sorry Asch, but I'm not a huge fan of getting power through your means."

With that the two brothers rushed forward and clashed swords once more, locking their swords together as they attempted to overpower each other, a purple hue beginning to appear where the two blades touched.

With a twist Asch wretched Flamberge from Luke's grip, sending it flying into the air as the final moments of the battle were reflected in the spinning blade of Flamberge. Seeing his opening Asch plunged his sword into Luke's stomach as Flamberge embedded itself into the stone floor.

"You're a fool, Luke. Power controls everything, and without power you cannot protect anything. Not even yourself." Asch said as he twisted the Vorpal sword in Luke's stomach to emphasize his point, blood trickling down Luke's lip as he grunted in pain.

With a jerk Asch pulled his sword from Luke's body causing his body to fall back. As Luke fell back Asch reached forward and pulled Luke's amulet from around his neck, his brother reaching back in vain to take back his mother's memento before hitting the cold stone floor.

Asch stared down at his little brother before turning and walking away, pulling Flamberge out of the floor as he walked by. With a twitch Luke began to stir again. But before he could get anywhere Asch spun on his heel and plunged Flamberge into Luke's chest, pinning him to the floor as blood began to pool around Luke's body.

Asch stood there for a second as Van walked up to see the aftermath of the battle, an unreadable expression on his face. "Did you get it?"

Asch merely pocketed Luke's amulet in response. "Yes, with this the seal Lorelei made can be broken." As he finished the older brother ran his hand through his hair returning it to its usual style.

With that the two began to walk away towards the edge of the tower, Van throwing one last thoughtful look over his shoulder towards the still fallen Luke before turning and walking after Asch.

Luke continued to lay there as the rain refused to let up. Without warning Luke's demonic energy spiked, causing Flamberge to fly out of his chest and high into the sky as a pillar of rain-water erupted around him.

In a burst of speed Luke burst through the pillar of water and attempted to swing at Asch, with a quick tug Asch unsheathed the Vorpal sword enough to block Luke's swipe as his younger brother grabbed the blade with his bare hands.

Asch gave Luke a hard look as his brother's wounds had been completely healed, however Luke's face seemed almost animalistic as he snarled through his teeth, his eyes having become red slits as a result of the surge of energy.

"I see a devil inside you has awakened as well." Asch said cryptically.

With a jolt Luke took a firmer hold of the Vorpal sword as he threw Asch across the roof. Landing on his feet Asch moved to continue the fight but before he could Van raised his hand as a sign to hold. "Wait, you needn't waste your energy, the victory would hold no value for you if you defeated him in this state, after all weren't you the one who said that you want to beat him at his best."

Asch gave one last look to his brother, who had begun to walk towards him almost like a zombie his steps seeming heavy and sluggish, demonic energy swirling around him like an aura. With a step Asch sheathed the Vorpal sword before turning and jumping off the side of the tower with Van following suit.

Luke began to hunch over as pain coursed through his body with each step, his skin seeming to burn away revealing a black shell where his skin had once been. The area where his sleeves and pants had once been became a white shell as his clothes seemed to meld into his skin. His vest began to morph into his body changing into dark red shell. Demonic wings sprouted from his back, the wings a dark red color that descended into a light orange hue much like his hair did. As the skin on Luke's face began to burn away his hair began to turn a deep silver color. As the last of his skin burned away Luke let out a monstrous yell as the lightning continued to roar around him, his demonic energy surging around him.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" with that Luke's demonic transformation instantly reversed as his skin returned and his clothes separated from his body. Exhausted Luke collapsed to the floor again as the last of his demonic energy left his system.

Anise, having watched the battle from the sky, suddenly dived towards Luke as his transformation reversed. "LUKE! Are you okay?" As she began to look him over she still couldn't believe what she just witnessed, her friend and partner, the strongest person she knew had just been beaten. As she continued to look over Luke's wounds she couldn't help the two transparent tears that fell down her cheek as the rain continued to fall.

**A/N: **

**And with that I am done with this chapter. **

**This chapter was a ton of fun to write and edit. Even though it still took me a month to write it at least it's done finally.**

**Explaining the (1) real quick: a horse-running stance is a martial art term for dropping your center of mass (usually your waist) to a spot between your knees, think of a sumo pose except your back is straight and your thighs should make a straight line through each other while you're in this stance.**

**Also was I the only one who imagined Hong Meiling from the Touhou project while reading Suzanne's fight scene?**

**Oh bonus points to anyone who can guess the name of the movie that Luke, Asch, and Suzanne saw it's a real movie.**

**Anyways please leave a review of what you did or didn't like, favorite, follow, and all that jazz and I will see you guys later.**

**See ya.**

**Next time: The belly of the beast**


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